


Stars Above, Balance Within

by MicoJKen



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Has Issues, Blance, Darth Vader Redemption, F/M, Gray Jedi, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Padme Lives, Rebel Padmé Amidala, Sith Anakin Skywalker, what if
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:21:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29279886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicoJKen/pseuds/MicoJKen
Summary: Padmé wasn't sure what she thought she could accomplish. If Obi-Wan was telling the truth, then it may all be too late. But she still foolishly hoped their love would be enough- she would be enough to bring him back.But this wasn't a lovesick fairy tale.This was reality, and the dark side's hold was too strong.It overpowered their love, breaking her heart.He was meant to bring balance, was this what the prophecy meant?
Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	1. Across the Stars

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been on a Star Wars kick for like a month and a half leading to this story.   
> Hope you like it.  
> I own nothing, Star Wars will always be the master piece of Goerge Lucus.  
> Enjoy.

Padmé wasn't sure what she thought she could accomplish. If Obi-Wan was telling the truth, then it may all be too late. But she still foolishly hoped their love would be enough- she would be enough to bring him back.  
But this wasn't a lovesick fairy tale.  
This was reality, and the dark side's hold was too strong.  
It overpowered their love, breaking her heart.

Wakening with a rough gasp, Padmé began to cough feeling the soreness of her throat. Rubbing the pain into submission she took stock of her situation.  
Obi-Wan and Anakin were fighting, somewhere. She didn't know where. But she could feel their clashing frustration and rage close by. Standing on shaking feet she staggered over to the edge of the docking platform and watched as the men fought on the harvesting droids. They hadn't noticed her, which was good. She'd only be a hindrance. Still, she held her blaster at the ready...  
Ready for what?  
Would she have to shoot one of them?  
Could she?  
Obi-Wan was a good friend and one of the few Jedi left, the last of their hope against the Sith.  
And Anakin…  
Ani, he was her everything.   
The love of her life.  
She couldn't hurt him.  
But he wasn't the man she fell for. He was a puppet of Palpatine. A Sith in the making.  
"Ani." she whimpered, as he lept over Obi-Wan, landing just behind him saber raised and ready.  
Even from the bank, he heard her.   
Pausing mid-swing his head turned to her. They starred, trying to convey everything that couldn't be said. Their love, their despair for what's to come, their urgency for the other to come with them.   
Light clashing with dark, becoming gray.  
The moment was cut short, however, as Obi-Wan swung his saber, taking Anakin's left leg. Anakin screamed, falling forward. Padmé cried out as he fell wanting to go to him but knowing it would do no good.  
“You were the chosen one. You were meant to destroy the Sith, not join them.” Obi-Wan said, pleadingly, brokenly. “You were my brother Ani, I loved you.”  
Anakin glared up at his former master, the natural blue of his eyes giving way to venom yellow.  
"I HATE YOU!"  
Unable to watch any longer, Obi-Wan turned his back on his apprentice and started his trek for Padmé.  
She watched him, blaster still raised and ready. Which is why she was able to act as fast as she did. She saw Anakin stand. Knowing somehow that he was using the force to keep himself upright. Saw as he raised his saber ready to deal a fatal blow. Her finger acted before she could think. The blast flashed and a second later she watched as Anakin fell, a burning hole in his chest.  
Hurt and inraged, he glanced at her, keeping her gaze.  
"Padmé." he snarled. "How could you!"  
"I'm sorry." she sobbed, dropping the blaster and reaching for him. "Ani, I'm sorry."  
His glare faltered as she cried and he struggled to raise his hand to reach for her as well.  
Whether he was trying to use the force on her or not she wasn't sure. Nor did she get to find out as Obi-Wan pulled to her feet and the ship. Blocking him from her sight.  
Gasping out sobs she fell to her knees and let the grief wrack her shaking frame.  
"Padmé, I'm sorry," Obi-Wan hushed her, letting a droid take over piloting while he comforted the senator. "But we cannot stay here. We have to find somewhere safe."  
"Where?" she wheezed.  
"A temple," he told her. "A sacred place for times of crisis. Only masters know about it. If Anakin survives, he won't be able to find us."  
Her weeping got heavier when he said this.  
She may have lost Anakin and their final acts as husband and wife were to kill each other.  
"I'm sorry." She cried to no one. "I'm so sorry."

XXX

He had to get out of here. Had to get to her. Had to fix this. Had to get her away from the Jedi. She didn’t know what they were really. That they would end her.   
The order was a lie.  
He had to make her see that.  
He had to get to Padme.  
But it was getting harder to think, to focus. His lungs were growing heavy and uncomfortable. The world, which should be lit red with lava and fire, was growing darker and darker by the second. He was losing a battle with the darkness. Or maybe had already lost. But now it was completely overtaking him.  
“There he is.”  
He could barely hear someone calling. The voice was familiar, but he wasn’t conscious enough to make out who it was.  
“He’s still alive.” the same person said. “Get a medical pod, quickly.”  
“Yes sir.”  
And with that, his battle with the shadows ended, and he fell deep into the darkness.

XXX

“Darth Vadar, can you hear me?”  
He’d come too in the middle of the droids working on him. Screaming in agony as they attached new limbs to him and fastened something around his neck. Then the mask came down and all he saw was red. Almost instantly his breathing got easier, the pain ebbed and he was whole.   
“Yes, my master.” Anakin- ney- Vadar answered, still a bit unfocused.  
“You were on the verge of death when I found you.” Sidious told him. “Your leg was gone, third-degree burns from the ashes on and in your body. And a blaster shot to the lung. We had to use mechanical prosthetics for your leg and a ventilation mask and collar for the blaster shot.”  
Blaster…  
Padme.  
“Padmé. Where is Padme?” Vadar asked, his voice sounding mechanical and lifeless. “Is she safe?”  
“She is gone.” Sidious told him. “The Jedi took her into hiding with the rest of them.”  
“I must find her.” Vadar urged the desperation in him growing all the more.  
They have her.  
“She tried to kill you, she is to be killed.” Sidious insisted. “You will kill her.”  
“NO!” Vadar roared as best as he could with his mask.  
The air shifted around them. Medical equipment shorted and imploded on themselves. The shackles that held Vadar to the operating table came undone, letting him step from the cold surface. He turned to his master, ready to attack, but hesitating for the moment having enough bloodshed for the day.  
“I will not kill her.” Vadar insisted. “She is the only reason I am doing any of this. She is the reason I live.”  
“She is a weakness.” Sidious scolded. “She must be put to rest or she will destroy everything we have built. She will destroy you. You must end her.”  
“No,” Vadar said resolutely. “I won’t do this.”  
“You have no choice.”  
“If she joins us, then there is no need.” Vadar said. “If she is one of us, she will be with me and will not oppose us.”  
Sidious thought about this for a moment. Turning his back on his new apprentice so he couldn’t discern anything from his face. He knew how all this would play out. Vadar’s rage would ultimately lead to the death of Padme, which will put the boy right into his hands. Or should that fail and the boy's love prevent him from hurting her, she will have an unfortunate accident blinding Vader with rage and plunging him further into the dark side.   
So he had nothing to lose.  
“Very well,” he said, facing the masked boy. “You will find Padmé Amidala and turn her to the dark side. If you think she will come.”  
“She will.” Vadar assured. “Her love for me will see to it. She will turn.”  
“Then that will be one of the many tasks you will have in our new Empire. You will not fail me.”  
“I won’t, my master.” Vadar nodded, dropping awkwardly to one knee.   
Padmé will come to the dark side.   
She will be with him once again.  
She has to. 

XXX

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t do anything. She just sat against the ship's wall and stared at nothing. Well not nothing. She stared at the life she thought she would live as it flashed and burned away right before her eyes.   
There was never a certainty with her being a senator and he a Jedi. Either one of them could lose their life at any moment, most likely to assination. But she still hoped. For a life away from it all. Back on Naboo, a small lake house with a garden and a couple of children she could tell stories to. Maybe she’d become a writer. That was what she studied before she decided to run for queen. Though it was more a focus on public speaking than poetry- she had already decided her course after the legislative youth program, and the apprentice legislature but still enjoyed word art like most people of Naboo. And Ani was supposed to be with her. He was supposed to chase the children around the yard and teach them the ways of the force. She didn’t want them joining the order but knew they would be force sensitive so they would have to learn to control it. But she wanted them to be happy. Find love, go out and be who they wanted to be. She respected the order, but they were not what she wanted for her children.  
Not that it mattered now.   
It was all gone now.  
The new Emperor would bring everything she loved crashing down. His version of peace was suppression and obedience of subjects. Not freedom and happiness.   
Now he had control of the galaxy and her husband.   
He had everything that she held dear, and she had no clue what that meant for her.  
Her heart was breaking, and she wasn’t sure she could survive it.  
“Padmé.” Obi-Wan called gently, kneeling next to her. Padmé, you can’t think like that.”  
She shook her head.  
“Don’t.” she hissed. “Stay out of my head.”  
“I’m not in your head.” Obi-Wan said carefully. “You’re projecting your emotions and thoughts. I can feel all of it.” he took a moment, letting his own thoughts organize before continuing. “I know your hurting, that what you and Anakin shared was far deeper and more profound than-”  
“You don’t know anything.” she snapped, glaring at him. “You don't know what love is, or how it feels to lose it.”  
“Yes, I do.” he sighed, patiently, looking away from her.  
Surprised, she studied him for a moment.   
Then it dawned on her like a mudhorn to the chest.  
“Satine.” she breathed. “You loved her.”  
He didn’t look at her.  
“I didn’t know.” she murmured.  
“Only Anakin knew.” Obi-Wan shrugged. “It’s why I more or less ignored your relationship.”  
She stayed quiet hearing that, wanting to be thankful but in this situation, it was most inappropriate.   
“When she died, I was close to giving in to my anger.” he told her. “I felt like the whole galaxy was imploding and I wanted everyone to suffer for it. But I couldn’t. Above everything else, Satine was a pacifist. Hurting people for her loss would only devastate her memory and shadow our love.” he let that sink in before going on. “Giving in to your sadness, letting it take your life, that will place a shadow so dark on your love that there will be no going back.”  
“This isn’t the same.” she shook her head. “He isn’t dead, he’s much worse. And I don’t think I can ever bring him back.”  
“You have to try.” Obi-Wan pleaded. “Padmé, I just lost my brother, but I won’t give up. I can’t, I have to believe that there is still some good in him.”  
“There is.” she said, no hesitation. She didn’t even have to think about it. She knew. Knew that there was still go in him. That he was still her Ani. “There is.”  
“Then help me fight.” he urged. “Help me save him. Don’t give up. Not yet.”  
They stared off for a moment, weighing their options. But in the end, they both knew what had to be done. And, that it wasn’t going to be easy.  
“Where are we going?” she finally asked, looking to the front viewport.   
“Zeffo.” Obi-Wan told her. “There is a secret temple, no one knows about it. They barely know anything about the Zeffo themselves. We’ll be safe there. Wait for any other Jedi who survived Palpatine’s order then we’ll make our plans for what’s next.”  
“Sabe.” Padmé interjected. “And Dorme, all the others. They’ll be targeted, they need to be brought to the temple.”  
“Once the others show up, we’ll gather and extract them.” Obi-Wan promised.   
“And if they don’t show up?” Padmé asked, not wanting to upset him, but being realistic was one of her best traits as a senator.   
He eyed her, not taking it personally.  
“Then you and I will go in and extract them.” he promised. “For now, let’s get to the temple.”

xxx

"Padmé… Padmé…"  
She was in the field where she and Anakin had their picnic all those years ago. Face to the sun hair down and swaying in the wind. Feeling a sense of peace she hadn't since before she was queen.  
"Padmé…"  
Her face snapped forward, she looked around trying to spot the source of the hushed voice.  
"... Padmé…"  
"Anakin?" she called leaning forward like she was trying to look past something.  
"... Padmé…"  
"Ani?'' she called again standing, alert and cautious. "Where are you?"  
"Padmé.."  
"Anakin! I'm here, I hear you. Where are you?" she was spinning on the spot, making herself dizzy trying to find him. "Ani!"  
"Padmé."  
Spinning her heel she was met with a black mass and a horrid mask.  
Shocked, she gave a shrill scream sitting up in her cot.  
"Padmé?"  
Panicked, her eyes darted around trying to remember where she was.  
"Padmé, calm down, you're alright." Obi-Wan hushed her, leaning down to rub her back. "It was just a bad dream. You're alright."   
"What happened, where are we?" she demands.  
"You fell asleep, I didn't want to wake you up, so I carried you into the temple."  
"The temple." she breathed. "Yes, of course. Thank you, Obi-Wan."   
"No need for that." he assured. "I have more good news, despite all that's happening."  
"What would that be?" she pondered.   
"We weren't the first ones here."   
Curious, she took his offered hand and followed him through a maze of corridors. Finally, after she was sure they were lost, they came to a large sitting room with the center of the floor dipping down into a bowl resembling a nest softened with plush cushions. And sitting amongst those cushions was a sight beyond welcoming.  
"Ahsoka." Padmé sighed, breathlessly holding her arms open in welcome.   
"Padmé." Ahsoka cried, rushing into the woman's arms.  
They hugged tightly, taking comfort in one another. Both feeling the loss of a man that meant so much to each of them. A teacher, and a husband but above all, a friend.  
"I'm so sorry." Ahsoka murmured, pulling away. "If I had stayed with him, I might have-"  
"Ahsoka stop." Padmé urged. "None of us could have known this would happen."  
"You could."  
Looking up, she now saw that Ahsoka wasn't alone.  
"Master Windu, Master Yoda." she nodded respectfully. "I'm sorry Master Windu, I don't know what you mean."  
"From what I understand, you and Skywalker were extremely close." Windu persisted, looking haggard and battle-worn. "Close enough to share a bed."  
"Master Windu." Obi-Wan ticked.  
"You are correct, Master Jedi." Padmé deadpanned, using the queen's voice-something she rarely used even as a senator.  
She was done hiding their relationship, especially now that the man she loved was most likely dead, replaced by a monster.   
"In fact, Anakin and I were married." she persisted.   
"And you didn't see this coming?" Windu raised a brow.  
"Seems I'm not the only one." She shot back. "Though all I had was the bond of love. You had the force. You should have seen the dark-side taking over."  
"Saw it, we did not." Yoda hummed. "Predicted, we did."  
"This is why we did not want him trained." Windu sighed.  
"He was the chosen one." Obi-Wan insisted. "He was meant to bring balance to the force. He was meant to destroy the Sith."  
"Say that, the prophecy did not." Yoda informed. "Balance it says. Destroy the Sith it does not. Mean the same, they do not."  
"What are you saying master?" Obi-Wan asked.  
"We assumed that Skywalker would bring balance by destroying those who followed the dark side." Windu informed. "But the prophecy never said that was the case. The light has been in power for thousands of years, now it would seem darkness is to persist."  
"That can't be." Ahsoka urged. "I saw him control both light and dark on Mortis. I always thought that meant he would find a way to bring the two sides together. Not destroy one or the other."  
"That is impossible." Windu shook his head. "The two sides are unable to cooperate. The code forbids the Jedi from using any techniques of the Sith."  
"Then the Jedi code is wrong." Ahsoka insisted.   
"You would have us bend to the will of the dark side?"  
"I would have you find balance." Ahsoka's eyes blazed with indignation and youthful foresight. "We all have both light and dark within us. Choosing one over the other, is that really the only way?"  
That sparked something in Padmé. A thought. Fleeting as now was hardly the time for it. They had a galaxy under unjust empirical rule with no clue as to how to go forth. Debating Jedi philosophy was hardly a priority. But still...  
Balance.  
"Time for that, there is not." Yoda interjected. "Plan our next step, we must."  
"He is right." Obi-Wan nodded. "We need to try and figure out Sidious's next move. He has taken over the galaxy, destroyed what he could of the Jedi, so what will he do after that?"  
“Naboo.” Padmé urged. “He’ll go to Naboo.”  
“How can you be sure?” Obi-Wan asked.  
“It was his home.” she said thoughtfully. “He’ll be expecting a welcome and celebration. Plus, he’ll want to start with whatever changes he has there.”  
“For now we don’t have much else to go on.” Windu hummed. “We can’t do much else though. I suggest we wait for now. Find more allies and regroup.”  
“You may do as you please, Master Jedi,” Padmé told him. “But I’m going back to Naboo to retrieve my own allies. I doubt Palpatine will let them live after I shot his apprentice.”  
“Senator, please think carefully.” Windu was visibly restraining himself. “We have to careful with how we move forward.”  
“Being careful won’t keep my friends and family safe.” Padmé shook her head, looking to Obi-Wan. “Please take me to my ship. If all goes well I should be back soon enough with allies.”  
“Padmé wait.” Obi-Wan sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll go, you should stay here. There are other elements that we need to factor in.”  
“What other elements?” She demanded.   
“I agree with you, Palpatine will first go to his planet and change things, but he isn’t our only concern. I do not think that my old padawan will let the events of Mustafar change his feelings for you.”  
“Anakin?” her eyes widened. “You think he will go to Naboo.”  
“I can feel him.” Obi-Wan nodded. “Somewhere out there. And I believe his first move would also be to go back to Naboo. To look for you.”  
“Then she cannot go.” Windu insisted. “Naboo is too much of a risk.”  
“I will not leave my friends in the hands of a madman.” Padmé deadpanned, pushing down her relief and fear at hearing her husband was alive.   
“We cannot risk you as an asset.” Windu insisted. “Your inside knowledge of Palpatine's tactics and strategic mind is worth more now than ever. We cannot let you risk that just so you can meet Skywalker again.”   
“Say what you really mean, Master Windu.” Padmé fought to keep from sneering. “You're afraid that if I see my husband I’ll go running back to him like some lovesick maiden with no sense.”  
“Wouldn’t you?” Windu grimaced. “Love clouds your mind and makes you do ridiculous things.”  
Not even the force could have prepared him for the swift, harsh slap he received.   
“Do not presume to know me.” She gritted. “Or to ever understand the love I have for my husband.” With this, she turned to everyone else in the room. “I am aware of what my husband has done. I know that the dark side is strong and has a tight grip on him. But I refuse to believe he is lost. One way or another I will turn him back to the side of good. I will make sure that he brings balance to the force.”  
“You mean that he will empower the light?” Windu wondered.  
“He will bring balance.” Padmé told him, glancing at Ahsoka. “I have a feeling that means more than any of us could understand. I will make sure he does fulfill the prophecy.”  
“Fulfill the prophecy, he will.” Yoda nodded. “Make our move now we must. Allies are needed.”  
“My people on Naboo will be more than able to help.” Padmé insisted. “They helped us retake Naboo during the invasion and they are masters at disguise. They will be assets to the cause.”  
“We cannot let her go, Master Yoda.” Windue insisted, not seeming to have learned his lesson earlier. “Even if she doesn’t go to Skywalker, we can’t be sure he won’t just take her.”  
“I’ll go.” Ahsoka said. “I can get in and out with no problem.”   
“I’ll go with you.” Obi-Wan insisted.  
“No, I got this. I’ll be in and out.” she promised. “And while I’m at it, I’ll send us some help.”  
“Who?” he asked.  
“My Mandalorian friends.” she smiled, taking a bit of pleasure in Windu’s discomfort. “And some others. I’ve been working hard during the Clone Wars and made a lot of allies. They’ll all be more than willing to help us in this.”   
“Senator Organa,” Padmé suddenly remembered. “I have to contact him. Make sure he is aware of everything that is happening. Make sure he is prepared.”   
“We will reach out with the force.” Obi-Wan told them. “See if there is anyone else out there and if they’re willing to fight.”  
“Once again,” Yoda sighed. “Fight in war, peacekeepers do.”  
“You can’t just sit and do nothing, Master.” Padmé implored, her brows turning up in worry.  
“No.” Yoda agreed. “Sad, it is. But no. Fight we must.”  
“May the force be with you.” Ahsoka bowed to the smaller master, then nodded to the others taking her leave for the hanger.   
“Masters.” Padmé nodded taking her own leave, heading for the room Obi-Wan had let her rest.  
“Do you need me to show you the way back?” Obi-Wan asked.  
“No thank you.” she smiled gently. “I know the way.”  
And she did. She didn’t know how, but she knew where to go. Almost like something was guiding her. She didn’t think too much about it, however. Letting her mind wander as she walked the halls.   
It was this lack of mindfulness that left her to not notice the subtle shift in the atmosphere.  
The new figure in her quarters, however, wasn't something she could miss.  
He was facing away from her, staring out at her viewport, not at all bothered that he had invaded her private rooms. All she could do was stare. She hadn't planned on what to do if they were face to face after everything that happened on Mustafar so soon.  
What was she supposed to do?  
He must have sensed her then because he stiffened and turned to face her.  
"Padmé?"   
She didn't even think. Fight or flight took over, as she reached down to her holster and took aim. There was a tense breath as they stared off. He looked between her and the blaster before snorting and slowly pacing closer.  
"Will you finish what you started my love?" he asked.  
"You were the one who tried to kill me first, husband." she retorted, though it had no bite to it.  
Still, they made him pause. His eyes traveling down her red-ringed throat. Swallowing thickly he looked away, ashamed.  
She was now able to get a good look at him. He must have a new prosthetic for his leg since he was walking fine. Though it was hard to tell with what wore. It was a black suit with a high collar and a collection of lights and monitors on the center of his chest. What she couldn't see was the respirator filter implanted in his neck which is what the monitors controlled. When he wasn't wearing the Vader mask, this was what helped him breathe.  
"What I did…" he sighed, glancing down, fist clenching. "I'm sorry. It was unforgivable."  
"Then why ask for forgiveness?" she demanded.  
He shook his head turning from her, in shame she assumed.   
They didn't say anything for a moment, but eventually, something caught Anakin's interest.  
"How did you get into my quarters?" he asked.  
She snorted.  
"I don't know what mind games you're trying to play," she gritted. "but you're the one in my quarters."  
"No you're..." he paused, suddenly realizing something. "We're meeting through the force."  
"What are you talking about?" she gawked.   
"The force… is connecting us somehow." he murmured, still not looking at her.  
"Anakin." She shook her head, lowering her blaster just slightly. "I'm not force sensitive, that's not possible."  
"But I'm strong enough for the both of us." he told her, a thoughtful smile creeping on his face. “I brought us together through the force.”  
Was that possible? He was the chosen one, so maybe he had powers that not even the council knew about. Or maybe it was something else…  
Padmé shook her head emphatically, riding herself of the thought.  
She couldn’t be sentimental.  
Not now.  
Not during a blooming war.  
“Where are you?” he asked, eyeing her in that gentle way he used to when he was probing her for information. “After you left me on Mustafar, I had to be taken to a medical facility. My master told me the Jedi took you away. Where did they take you?”  
“Your master.” she scoffed. “Palpatine is a monster, Anakin. Please you have to see that.”  
“He may be.” Anakin sighed. “But he has answers. Powers I need.”  
“For what?” she demanded.  
“To protect you.” there was no hesitation in his answer, but it sounded worn. Like the edge of a stone, rubbed smooth. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Padmé.”  
“This is not the way to do that, Ani.” she persisted. “Killing your comrades, sequestering the galaxy, this isn’t protecting me.”  
“It’s bringing the peace you’ve always wanted.” he urged. “Now everyone has to agree.”  
“Or what?”  
“Or they’ll be punished.”  
“That isn’t a democracy, Anakin!” she cried. “That is tyranny. It’s wrong. It’s not freedom.”  
“Everyone is free still.”  
“As long as they agree and follow the path Palpatine laid out for them.”   
“And is that so bad?” he asked, earnest and pleaded, close enough for her to touch now. “There will be no more fighting, no more red tape. All those problems that would have taken the Senate years to fix, now take minutes. One word from the Emperor and it's done. How can that be wrong.”  
“Because Palpatine has no interest in the right cause. He will only want absolute submission. Liberty will be nothing more than an illusion.”  
“It was already so.” he huffed, squaring his shoulders. “Freedom, liberty, all fables we tell ourselves so we keep moving through life without complaint. But it was all a lie. It never truly existed.”   
“You’re wrong.” she insisted. “And this isn’t going to bring peace. There will be beings out there that will not accept this new imperial rule. They will fight back.”  
“Then we will put them down.” Anakin hissed.  
Now sad, she locked eyes with him and made sure he saw her wholly. Felt her resolve through the force. Understood what this meant.  
“And if I’m one of them, my love?” she asked, soft and resolute. “Will you put me down.”  
Taken aback, he staggered away from her, his eyes breaking at her words.  
At that moment, she felt something. She didn’t know how she could, but she did. His heartbreak at her words and his overflowing love for her. It wrapped around her like an embrace, cupping her cheek with all the gentleness of a flower petal. She reached out for it with her own love, wanting him to feel it. Wanting it to be enough to bring him back.  
“Ani,” she sighed.  
But in a blink, the feeling was gone- pulled away harshly- and his eyes hardened again.  
“I won’t let that happen.” he declared. “I will find you and keep you with me.”  
“You would imprison me?” she balked.  
“If it will keep you safe!”  
“Your dreams will not happen, especially now.” she urged. “I won’t die in childbirth. I’m not even pregnant.”  
“Padmé.” he gritted, reaching for her, but pausing inches from her shoulder thinking better of it.   
Letting his hand drop, he took a deep breath and centered himself. He had sworn to himself that he would never hurt her like that again. He would use his anger to make himself stronger and to crush his enemies. But he would never use it against her. He would never hurt her again.   
Opening his eyes, he fixed her with a determined stare making her straighten her back.  
“I will find you, Padmé, and I will make sure you’re safe.” he told her. “I already have an idea where you might be.”  
“Is that so.” she gritted.  
“Naboo.” he deadpanned.  
She had to bite her cheek to keep from reacting.  
“I’m already here, my love.” he smiled. “One way or another, we will meet. But I’m asking you to come to me willingly.” with this he held out his hand to her, whether it was symbolic or he forgot he was just a projection, she wasn’t sure. “Come with me, Padmé.”  
Several thoughts and emotions went through her head right then. The first and foremost being an angry refusal just for the principle of it. The others were conflicting rage and hope. Maybe she should go to him. But what would that change? Maybe she could make a difference if she was closer to him, bringing him back to the light. Or maybe she would have to watch as the love of her life destroyed the galaxy with the dark side.  
So confusing and conflicting.  
There had to be a balance.  
“Balance.” she breathed, feeling an odd fluttering in her belly.  
Her hand flew to it as the feeling faded and his eyes followed her. He looked back at her confused, and maybe just a bit frightened. But his hand was still outstretched to her.  
“Please.” he breathed, barely a whisp on the wind.  
“Padmé?”  
Looking to her door at the call, she was snapped out of whatever trance had a hold of her only to whip her head back to find Anakin was gone.  
“Padmé? Are you alright?” Obi-Wan asked, coming into her quarters, frantic. “I could hear you yelling from the corridor.”  
“He’s on Naboo.” she suddenly realized. “I need to get a hold of Ahsoka.”


	2. Rise of the Rebellion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello I'm back with the second chapter. Thank you to everyone who read the last chapter before. It means a lot that you took the time to read it. And now I'm just gonna let you get to the chapter.  
> I own nothing, Goerge Lucus is amazing and I thank him for bringing Star Wars to my life and to Disney for adding it into your fandom family.  
> Enjoy.

"Understood." Ahsoka's holo-image nodded. "I'll be cautious, and try to get the guards and handmaidens out as quick as possible."  
"Thank you, Ahsoka." Padmé nodded solemnly. "Be safe."  
"I will." and with that, the holo blinked out.  
"Are you sure that this will come to violence?" Mon Mothma's holo asked.   
She looked pensive and distraught,  
"Senator, he ordered the Jedi be hunted down and killed." Senator Beil Organa sighed. "And made himself Emperor of the Galaxy. Sentients are not going to go along with this, we must expect that war is inevitable." At this, he gave her a grave look. "I watched the clones mow down a young padawan right in front of me. A child."  
Mon Mothma glanced down before looking back to Padmé.  
"You will have our full support.''   
Thank you. Senators." Padmé smiled sadly before she severed the connection.  
Sighing and slumping back in her chair feeling the exhaustion of the past few hours settle into her bones.  
"How did you know?"  
Glancing up at the overly suspicious Mace Windu.  
"I'm sorry?" she asked.   
"How did you know Skywalker was on Naboo?" he clarified.   
She was too tired for this.  
"It seemed obvious." She murmured, not bothering to sit up straight. "He claimed before that he joined the Chancellor because he wanted to save me. In some shape or form, he still loves me, so he would try to find me, and what better place to start than Naboo."  
He studied her for a moment, trying to probe her mind for answers. But years of political work and being married to a Jedi trained her well to wall herself against such tricks. So in the end he just huffed and shook his head.  
"There is something your not telling us." he concluded  
"That is your opinion to have, Master Windu." she sighed. "Now if you don't mind, I'm quite tired."

It didn’t take long for her to slip into oblivion. She was so tired and worn down from the past few day’s events. Though it wasn’t a restful sleep.  
She was plagued by nightmares.  
It started pleasant enough. She was back in Theed, walking through the streets peacefully. Feeling at home yet on edge. She wasn't sure why, but it was like she had this dark shadow following her.   
"Hurry, this way."  
The voices came to her as if she was underwater. Still, she followed them. Through allies and stairways until she ran into a small group of hooded figures. Without knowing how, she knew they were Ahsoka, Sabe, and the others. Hoping they were heading for safety she followed them. Thankfully it looked like they were heading for a hidden ship. Staying within the shadows of the alley she watched as Ahsoka stood guard at the hatch watching the streets of Theed.  
So she was the first to spot Padmé.  
“I know you’re there master.” She called to the alley. “And I know you don’t intend to let us leave.”  
Confused, Padmé watched as someone walked past her then gasped in horror as she saw the masked figure from her nightmare.  
“Ahsoka,” he called, monotone and unfeeling. “It has been a long time.”  
“You’ve fallen further than I ever thought possible, Master.” she gritted.  
“Could you say that you’re any better?” He motioned to her. “You left the order.”  
“But I didn’t leave the light.” Ahsoka clenched her fists.  
“I sense darkness in you, young padawan.”  
“I am not your padawan.” she ticked, calling her lightsabers to her hands with the force and igniting them. “And what you sense is balance.”  
Seeming disappointed, Vader ignited his saber and stood ready to face her.   
Padmé watched, unable to do anything as Ahsoka launched herself at Vader and their deadly dance began. There had to be something wrong with her legs because she couldn’t even move. She could only watch as the lights flashed blindingly making it hard for her to follow the fight. But it seemed that Vader had the upper hand. Pushing Ahsoka back further and further, closer to the ship as if he was trying to test something.  
“Where is Padmé.” he snarled, pressing close as they reached a deadlock.  
“Not here.” was all Ahsoka gave him.  
Snarling he pushed her back with the force, then before she could recover he lifted her in the air with it.  
“Will you kill me now, Master?” Ahsoka asked, looking down at him, defiant even in the direst of situations.  
“No, even now I don’t think I could kill you,” he admitted. “But I will turn you, you will be my apprentice again once you’ve given in to the dark side.”  
Before either of them could say anything else, a blaster shot was heard.  
Vader didn’t look up, focused entirely on Ahsoka. He just threw up his hand and sent the blast back. Someone cried out in pain, catching Padmé’s attention. Looking at the open hatch of the ship she saw none other than Sabe clutching her side and still tears in her eyes.  
“NO!” Padmé screamed.  
This threw Vader off, his control wavered on Ahsoka before he just dropped her and slowly turned to face Padmé.  
Everything else forgotten, she stood frozen as he turned to her. The nightmare became all the more horrible as his red-shaded eyes focused on her. She began to tremble when she realized she knew this man. Ahsoka’s words finally heavily registering with her.   
“Padmé.” he breathed, still monotone and lifeless, yet wielding nothing but sincere and intense emotions with its wavelength.  
“Anakin.” she breathed back, the weight of the name making her legs buckle.  
As she fell, the ship took off, carrying her friends to safety. Vader lunged forward as if to catch her. But she faded.

XXX  
Padmé woke with a start.  
“Ani…” she whimpered. “What have you…”  
Curling up on her side, she let herself cry again. Mourning the loss of her love again. Feeling her heartbreak again.  
‘Can I bring him back to the light.’ she asked herself. ‘He’s fallen so far.’  
Somehow, she knew that wasn’t a dream. That he called her to him with the force without knowing again and let her watch everything that happened. And when she screamed, he finally saw her. It shook the both of them. This whole force connection could be troublesome. If he can pull her to him anytime, out of her reality it could be the end of her. It could be the end of him if she distracted him at just the right moment.  
Maybe she should talk to Yoda or Obi-Wan about this.   
Or maybe, she should keep it to herself for now. It seems Anakin was calling her to him. So as long as she didn’t call out to him, he wouldn't be able to see where she is like she saw him just now. And she could use this. Every time he calls her she’ll use that time to try and make him understand that this is all wrong. That he needs to turn… back… to what? The light?   
No, there needed to be balance.  
He needed to bring balance.  
A new order? Maybe, the Jedi are not the answer. Neither are the Sith. There had to be a middle ground.   
A balance.  
Not black. Not white.   
Grey.

XXX  
Waiting for the ships to land was tedious, especially since there wasn’t much for her to do around the temple. Mostly she just read up on the Jedi order. There were plenty of old holo-books filled with religion. She probably wasn’t supposed to read them, but what else could she do?   
And she found something interesting.  
“The Jedi were not the first.” She murmured to herself.  
The Sith were. Which made sense. If primitive cultures discovered they could feel and manipulate the energy that connects the universe they would use it to conquer all they could. There was a small sect that broke off and eventually became the Jedi. But they didn’t start like they are now. They were more welcoming to one's emotions at first. Thanks to the Dark Jedi war they decided to teach younger generations to let go of their emotions and focus. But there was another sect.  
“The Gray Jedi.” she hummed.  
There wasn’t much on it. Again, made sense. The Jedi order wouldn’t want their students to stray from these stories.  
All she could find was their code.  
There is no light, without the dark.  
Through passion, I gain focus.  
Through knowledge, I gain power.  
Through serenity, I gain strength.  
Through victory, I gain harmony.  
There is only the force.  
“There is only the force,” she repeated. “Only the force. No light, without the dark. Only the force. One can not be without the other. The force is neither. Beings are both and can achieve balance.” with this realization she gripped the necklace Ani gave her, taking deep breaths to keep from calling to him. “He doesn’t have to be turned. Just balanced.”  
“Padmé.”   
Turning to her door, she saw Obi-Wan waiting for her.  
“They’re here,” he told her, noticing the book. “Where did you find that?”  
She looked down to them, then back up at him.  
“I’m sorry.” she murmured. “I know I shouldn’t be reading them, but-”  
“You're fine.” he assured her, walking further into the room. “I’m sure Master Yoda wouldn’t mind you knowing more about our ways. You are more trusted than most currently.”  
“Considering our current situation, that is not reassuring.” she snorted.  
“True.” he smiled. “But, I trust you. Always have. Always will.”  
“And what if Anakin turns me to the dark side?”  
“Then I’ll understand.” he promised. “And do everything in my power to turn you back.”  
With that, he gave one last smile then turned to leave her quarters.  
“Maybe I don’t need to be turned.” she hummed after he was out of earshot. “I just need balance.”

XXX  
“Padmé.” Drome cried rushing to the former senator's arms.  
She wasn’t alone.   
The rest of the handmaidens were close to follow resulting in a mass of limbs and crushing body pile meant to be a hug.   
“Girls.” Padmé cooed, reaching for each of them.  
“Master Yoda.” Ahsoka called, carrying an unconscious Sabe, getting all the girl's attention. “Please, heal her.”  
“Sabe.” Padmé whimpered, rushing to her side as Ahsoka placed her on Yoda’s level.   
“Serious, this is.” Yoda hummed. “Quick, we must be.”  
With that, he placed a hand on her abdomen and closed his eyes.   
Right before her eyes, Sabe’s wound went from lethal magenta to pale red, then matching her natural color.   
“Danger she is, no more.” Yoda nodded. “Rest, she needs.”  
“Thank you, Master.” Ahsoka smiled, lifting the girl again. “I’ll take her to one of the rooms.”  
“Thank you, Ahsoka.” Padmé murmured, eyes locked on Sabe, brushing some silken hairs off her brow. “I mean it.”  
“Of course.” Was all Ahsoka felt she could say, a pleasant smile on her lips.  
“Senator Amidala.”   
She wanted to go after Ahsoka and Sabe, but Organa’s call reminded her that there were things that needed to be taken care of. Sabe and the girls were safe now, time to focus on the possible rebellion forming. Taking a deep breath she stood straighter and turned to face her fellow senators. Wordlessly, the former handmaidens did just the same. Falling into the old habits they ingrained years prior.  
“Senators.” she nodded. “Thank you for coming.”  
“We didn’t have much choice.” Mon Mothma looked pale and grim as she said this. “Just after our conversation the Chanc- excuse me- the emperor, ordered all current senators to be removed from office. But that was a cover.”  
“He ordered those who were loyal to you, to the Jedi to be killed, covertly.” Beil Organa gritted. “We were the only ones that made it out.”  
Padmé schooled her expression to keep from tearing up.  
“I’m so sorry.” she breathed. “I fear that part may be my fault.”  
“What do you mean by that?” Mon Mothma tilted her head in askance.   
“Lord Vader, Emperor Sidious’s apprentice, is Anakin Skywalker, former Jedi, and my husband.”  
Their eyes widened, as did the handmaidens.  
“We had no idea.” Organa breathed.  
“We had to keep it a secret.” Padmé sighed. “Now I believe Sidious sees me as a threat and would do whatever it takes to get to me.”  
“And what makes you think that?”  
Of course, it was Mace Windu to ask.  
“What threat could you possibly be to the Sith lord?” he elaborated on his question.  
Turning coolly she leveled him with the queen's gaze, keeping his eyes locked with hers.  
“Because I am the only one that could bring my husband back to our side. As I’ve told you.” she deadpanned. “Sidious knows this, and he knows I know. So he will either force Anakin to turn me or kill me. But he cannot do either.”  
“And you sure of this?” Windu pressed.  
“I am.” her monotone was digging into his nerves and she knew it. “I can and will bring Anakin Skywalker back to our side.”  
“To the side of the light.” he clarified.  
“I will bring him to balance.” she insisted. “Light and dark, I don’t believe either is the answer.”  
“You’re talking like a Sith.” he growled.  
“No,” it was still a deadpan tone, that broached no weaknesses for arguments. “I’m talking like a gray Jedi.”  
“There is no such thing.”  
“It may be the only thing that works.” she persisted. “My husband was the chosen one. I believe he still is. He is meant to bring balance to the force. Light and dark cannot exist without one another. That balance is what Anakin will bring. There is only the force.”  
This seemed to shut him up.   
He glared at her before turning on his heel and stomping away.  
“Well, you certainly still have your talents with diplomacy.” Beil snorted.  
“Can you do it?” Mon Mothma demanded. “Can you bring Skywalker back to our side?”  
“I will find a way.” Padme promised.  
“Excuse me.”   
Padme didn't notice the woman in Mandalorian armor until that moment.  
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” she said. “But we have a problem.”

“It’s called a what?” Obi-Wan gawked.  
“A Death-Star.” Bo Katan repeated. “That’s what the emperor is calling it. It’s a planet destroyer.”   
“With power like that, he’ll rule absolutely.” Organa breathed.   
“We can’t let them go through with it.” Mace Windu shook his head.  
“They started building it as soon as he became emperor.” Bo Katan told them. “With the influence and manpower they have, it’s already starting to take shape.”  
“Then we have to destroy it.” Padmé said simply, turning everyone’s heads to her. “We have three Master Jedi, three Mandalorian soldiers, my former personal guard, Ahsoka- who is powerful in the ways of the force- and my handmaidens. Surely we’ve done more with less. And even so, there will be more out there who will not stand for this attack on democracy.”  
“How do you propose we do this then?” Ahsoka asked, thanking her silently for the compliment.   
“We’ll first need allies.” she told them. “As I said, there will be those who will see the Death Star as an act of tyranny. They will not stand for this, they’ll want to fight.”  
“Where do we find these allies?” Mace asked.  
“Those in the senate that were a part of our faction.” Mon Mothma suggested. “They’ll be of like mind with us.”  
“There are more than three Mandalorians.” Bo Katan offered. “We are small in number, but we will fight.”  
“I still have a few contacts that may want to help.” Ahsoka assured.  
“There must be more Jedi out there.” Obi-Wan insisted. “Palpatine couldn’t have gotten them all.”  
“Search for them, we will.” Yoda nodded. “Guide to new allies, the force will.”  
“And of course you have us.”   
Looking to the door, Padmé nearly cried as she saw Sabe santering to her side.   
“The handmaidens of Amidala.” she announced. “Always knew that we were meant for more than just Senate work.”  
“I am not a senator anymore.” Padmé reminded her.  
“No,” Sache hummed, tilting her head. “But you will always be a handmaiden, just like the rest of us.”  
“There are advantages to being a handmaiden.” Eirte smirked. “They never knew how many of us there were, or which one of us was the queen.”  
“We won’t be using our chosen names in this coming rebellion.” Dorme nodded. “We will all be Amadala. Even you, Padmé Naberrie.”  
“We could call ourselves the handmaidens of Amidala.” Yane shrugged. “And wear a variation of the queen's face and the hoods so no one will know who we are.”  
‘Making it better to hide from Anakin.’ Padme thought solemnly.  
“It’s a good idea.” Ahsoka nodded. “I’ve seen all of you in a fight. You’ll be great additions to the rebellion.”  
“What’s next?” Bo Katan asked, looking to Padme. “General Amidala.”  
That struck her a bit.  
“You seem to be taking charge.” she clarified. “Without the makeup, that is how I will now address you.”  
There were a few nods around the room as they agreed, most having seen her in the senate meeting or out on the battlefield. She was perfect for the job in their minds. It touched her deeply to know they had such faith in her. Regardless of the weight of this responsibility, she would take it and do what needed to be done.   
The pride in Obi-Wan’s eyes had her smiling inwardly knowing that his fellow Jedi most likely didn’t hold her in the same light he did.  
“Second,” she began, looking each of them in the eye. “We will have to discover the location of this Death Star. This will most likely require reconnaissance missions in Imperial occupied bases and systems.”  
“Then we destroy the Death Star.” Mon Mothma concluded.  
“Then we destroy the Death Star.” Padme agreed. 

XXX  
Turns out it wasn’t hard to recruit more beings to their cause. Most senators that ran in their same circle were not keen on the idea of Palpatine being emperor, and losing their liberties to him. And now, knowing about the Death Star and believing it, they were prepared to fight and destroy the thing before it had a chance.   
The Jedi were able to round up all the Padawans and Knights that survived order 66 and bring them back. Among them was a boy named Cal and a woman named Seeir. They had found a whole other way of tracking force sensitives through her former master. With Yoda’s blessing, they went on to find his Holocron and hopefully more sensitive.  
“To rebuild the Jedi order.” Seir nodded.  
But Yoda shook his head.  
He didn’t elaborate what he meant by it, but his glance toward Padmé told her that he might be along her line of thinking.  
The Jedi order failed, its teachings brought about Darth Vader. The code needed to be changed. The order was done.   
It was time for the Gray to rise.

Padmé and the handmaidens went to work honing their skills and organizing the rebellion with the Jedi. First thing Padmé did as commanding general named Obi-Wan Kenobi as general double. Which meant that when she was in make-up and just a handmaiden he was the face of the rebellion. No one outside the inner circle of leaders knew Padmé was the leader. Meaning at meetings and public gatherings Obi-Wan talked and gave the speeches, taking cues from Padmé’s feelings, while Padmé stood in the background. Yoda agreed with her decision as did Mace Windu, which surprised her.  
“He is a wise choice.” Windu nodded when she made the announcement. “He already has an accomplished reputation as a general of the clone wars, and is close enough to you to understand your feelings and how you would handle crowds.”  
“Thank you, Master Windu.” Obi-Wan nodded, as did Padmé. “And thank you Padmé, for putting your trust in me.”  
“You will always have my trust.” she assured, rubbing his shoulder.  
Over the few cycles they had been on Zeffo, they had grown closer through their shared pain of losing Anakin and their resolve to save him. She has come to see him as a mentor and brother and relied heavily on him through this whole ordeal and he did her.  
But even so, she didn’t feel she could tell him about her force bond with Anakin.  
“Padmé~”  
She was in the training hall when she heard it this time.  
His call.  
“I’ll be back.” she told Yane, hoping her breathless tone didn’t betray her. “I just need to grab something from my quarters.”  
Nodding Yane continued to watch Sache and Sabe spar while Padmé slunk away.  
She practically ran back to her room, feeling the pull get stronger by the second but not wanting anyone to see her talking to no one and questioning her mental state.  
“Ani,” she breathed, finally in the safety of her rooms. “You have to stop doing this.”  
“I wouldn’t have to if you would just tell me where you are.” he soothed, slowly stalking out of the shadows to meet her.  
He wasn’t wearing his mask which was a comfort, but it was still hard to see him.  
“I won’t.” she persisted. “Not unless you promise to give up the mask and help me free the galaxy.”  
“Padmé,” Anakin sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Why can’t you see I’m doing all this for you.”  
“How is any of this for me?” she demanded. “How could any of this be for me? You are destroying everything I love so you could achieve power and using our love as an excuse to do it.”  
“That is not true.” he bellowed.   
“How else would you explain everything you’ve done?”   
“Stop.” he snapped, looking away from her, growling as he paced. “That is not what I am doing. I could never-”  
“Then call this what it is.” she gritted. “You want power, and you’ll destroy the galaxy to get it.”  
“I’m doing this so I can protect you.” he insisted. “I gave myself to the dark-side for you. I gained this power to protect you.”  
“From what?” she nearly cried. “Your visions showed me dying in childbirth, I’m not pregnant!”  
“Padmé please,” he begged, now leaning close to her. “Please, just… please. I can’t lose you. Not like I lost my mother.”   
Heartbreaking for just a moment, Padmé let herself soften.  
“Ani.” she whimpered. “You won’t.”  
“You can’t promise me that.” he shook his head, pressing his brow to hers. “You can’t, but my power can.”  
“You can’t know that for sure.”  
“I can,” he swore. “I won’t let anything touch you. Master Sidious will teach me how to keep you alive should this ever happen.”  
“Should.” she urged. “Should it ever happen. Palpatine is telling you what you want to hear. You can’t trust him.”  
“If he can help me save you, I will do whatever he wants.” he ticked, backing away from her. “You will understand that soon enough. I need the power of the dark side. You will understand.”  
“Ani, wait.” she called reaching for him again.  
But he was already fading away.  
“I will turn you.” his voice drifted, barely audible. "You will come to the dark-side willingly.”  
“I won't.” she breathed, not even sure he could hear her. “And I will save you.”

XXX  
“General Kenobi.”  
They were in another meeting, attempting to sort through all the new info they got about the Death Star- attempting to discern if it was fact or fiction- when Bo Katan called out to Obi-Wan.  
Padmé wasn’t currently in make-up, but if Bo Katan was talking through Obi-Wan it could only mean that someone outside their circle was with her.  
“Yes.” he answered, turning to give the Mandalorian his full attention.  
“We finally have something.” she smiled, gesturing for a man in full armor to step forward. “This is Saw Gerrera, he has information on the Death Stars construction from the actual architect.”  
“He was a good friend of mine.” Saw said, his voice bouncing off the walls of the temple with a deep rumble. “Knew exactly what the Empire would do and that if he wasn’t the one to step up and build it then the galaxy would have no chance.”  
“What is this information?” Obi-Wan asked, crossing his arms.  
He could sense this man’s feelings a little too well.   
He broadcasted them shamelessly though unintentionally. It was a mess of pride and a rising superiority complex. He would have to keep his eye on this man. Side glancing to Padmé he could feel she was with his line of thinking. She seems to have gained a powerful sixth sense in the last month and a half they’ve been here. He has come to rely on it more than he would like to admit, but he was thankful. It had kept them safe during multiple missions. She always seemed to know which lead was a trap set up by the Empire and which wasn’t. He assumed it was because of her knowing Anakin and how he operated. An ability he once thought he had.  
“It has a weakness,” he said, a broad smile on his lips. “Built-in and hidden from the Empire. My friend, Galen Erso, knew they would use him to build it so he designed it long before they came to him. He designed it with this weakness and gave the plans to me so that I could find a way to destroy it.”  
“And you’re willing to give these plans to us?” Obi-Wan asked, echoing Padmé’s concerns.  
“You're the resistance.” Saw proclaimed. “The ones standing up to the Empire for the good of all. The last few Jedi, our last hope. Of course, I’m willing to give this to you. You will make good with this information. You will save us.”  
“We will try.” Obi-Wan nodded. “Let’s see these plans.”  
Nodding, Saw reached inside his pouch only to frown. Frantically, he patted himself down, looking over his shoulder and at his sides. But whatever he was looking for wasn’t there.  
“Kriff.” he groaned looking over his shoulder again. “Jyn!”  
Startled by his outburst they all jolted.  
“The little girl I was with,” he asked Bo Katan. “Where is she?”  
“She should be with Yane in the gardens.” Bo Katan raised a brow.  
Without so much as an apology, he turned on his heel and rushed down the halls.  
“What was that about?” Yabe snorted.  
“I think the girl Jyn now holds our answers.” Obi-Wan sighed.  
“Should we just wait here then?” Sache asked.  
The consensus seems to be that for now, that was best.   
But something caught Padmé’s eyes.  
“If you excuse me.” she suddenly announced, bowing her head. “I’ll be right back.”  
Rushing off for no good reason has become a normal thing for her. Most assumed it was because despite her calm demeanor and strength of will she still was mourning the loss of her husband and needed time to herself from time to time. She let them believe that. Let her get away with her short chats with Anakin, giving her time to sow the seeds of doubt within him and perhaps bring him to her side. He probably saw it the same way.  
Shaking herself of that train of thought she followed the distraction down the corridors and out onto a training alcove. It was carved into the walls of the temple, a place for Padawans to learn balance.  
There, feet dangling off the edge sat a little girl.   
Her brown hair was tangled, strewn down her back and around her shoulders. She wore a thick shawl over an even thicker tunic and grey trousers. Her shoulders were hunched forward and she was clutching something in her hand. A poor lost child.   
Smiling sadly she joined the girl expecting her to look up but she only stared at the little drive in her hand.  
“Hello.” Padmé smiled. “My name is Padmé.”  
She didn’t say anything.  
“What’s your name?”  
She glanced up for a moment, her cerulean eyes holding nothing but loss and pain.  
“Jyn.” she murmured.  
“Jyn,” Padmé nodded, looking back to the temple. “Saw is looking for you. He thinks you have something of his.”  
“It’s mine.” Jyn insisted, clutching the drive closer to her chest. “It’s the only thing I have left of my father. He can’t have it?”  
“What is it?” she asked.  
“The plans to the thing daddies building.” the little girl pouted.   
Softening her facial expressions, Padmé glanced back down at the drive forming a plan.  
“It’s very important to you then.” she concluded.  
Jyn nodded.  
“But it’s also important to my friends.” she pressed gently. “We need to save our families.”  
“You can’t have it.” Jyn shook her head.  
“We don’t want to keep it,” Padmé promised. “We don’t even have to take it for more than five minutes.”  
The little girl narrowed her eyes at the general, not understanding what she was getting at.  
“If you let me borrow it for five minutes, I can make a copy of it and give you back the original. So we both get what we want. Sound good?”  
Jyn bit her lip, looking down at the drive then out to the horizon.   
“You’ll give it back?” she begged.  
“Of course.” Pamdé smiled, standing and holding out her hand. “You can even stand with me while the copy is being made. The drive won’t leave your side.”  
Smiling shyly, Jyn took her hand and followed her back into the temple. 

“Two meters.” Sabe scoffed. “Two meters, in a trench, on the outside of the massive moon-like ship. Yeah, that will be easy.”  
“Leave that to us,” Typho told her. “My piolets and I will handle that.”  
“The rest of us will sneak aboard and gain whatever additional information we can including wiping the plans for the Death Star so they can’t build it again, at least not anytime soon.” Padmé said it was just the inner circle so she was free to be the general. She used her queen voice, getting everyone’s attention and keeping it. “Destroying this ship is just step one in bringing down the Empire. Once we have more information on their movements and motives we will be able to stop their progress and eventually bring down the Emperor.”  
“Once he is taken care of we can rebuild the republic.” Mon Mothma nodded.   
“The Death Star isn’t finished yet.” Mace Windu reminded them. “But they still have the architect and his team. They can still use him to make another.”  
“I’ll take a small team to his lab and liberate them.” Ahsoka told him. “Once he is in our care we will place him somewhere safe so the empire can’t find him again. That should buy us some time so they can’t build another for a good bit.”  
“I’ll go with the Handmaidens to infiltrate the Death Star.” Obi-Wan offered. “Give them a hand.”  
“Are you sure that is the only reason?” Mace Windu raised a brow. “You’re former Padawan could be aboard that ship. If you come across him-”  
“I will do what I have to.” Obi-Wan promised.  
Padmé resisted the urge to glance at him. She knew exactly what he meant by that. They had made a silent pact that they would do everything in their power to save him. To bring him to reason. She prayed that if he was there, he would listen. She still hadn’t told him about the Gray Jedi, not sure he would take it to heart with how deep he was in the Empire. If only she had something to push him to hear her.  
If only her love was enough.  
If only he didn’t blind him with fear.  
“Good.” Yoda nodded. “Set out tomorrow, we will. Rest, for now, we must.”  
With that, they nodded and went about to wind down for the day.  
“Padmé~”  
Breath hitching at the embrace of his force signature, Padmé ignored his call marching down the hall to her room.  
She wasn’t going to make it. The call was too strong. It wasn’t just him, it was something inside her, urging her to heed him. Biting her lip she sidestepped out into the gardens and found a tucked-away corner.  
“Anakin.” she breathed, relaxing as she felt him materialize. “This isn’t the best time.”  
“You haven’t told anyone about this then?”  
“Have you?”  
His silence was all the answer she needed.  
“You have been busy, my love,” he whispered to her. “Storming our strongholds and taking data. What have you been looking for?”  
Turning to face him fully she set her face into that of the queen.   
She would give him nothing but what he already knew.  
“A way to bring down the empire.”  
“And have you found it?”  
Her silence was all the answer he needed.   
“And you think this will end with whatever you have planned?” he asked.  
“It’s a start.”  
Anakin sighed. Though he enjoyed seeing her, he grew tired of this game they were playing. It was time, one way or another for this to end.  
“Padmé, I know full well you are aware of the Death Star and intend on attacking it. I imagine soon.”  
Gritting her teeth she leveled him with her eyes.  
“It’s not something that you can stop.”  
“I don’t intend to.” Anakin shrugged.  
Her being unable to keep the surprise from her face made him laugh.  
“It was the first thing to rebel against.” he shrugged. “I figured you would go after it once you found out what it was.”  
“Then you know why I must stop it.” she urged. “That kind of weapon is barbaric. It destroys planets.”  
“Some planets deserve to be destroyed.” Anakin spat.  
“Like Tatooine?”  
“A planet built on slavery?” he laughed. “Of course it should burn, along with its masters.”  
“And its slaves.” she deadpanned.  
That made him flinch.  
The yellow of his eyes bleeding blue for just a moment.  
A memory playing across his mind of a woman tied to a cross. And a young boy tinkering with metal and gears.  
“Now do you see?” she begged. “Even if there are those who are wicked, there are still many lives on every planet who are innocent. That monstrosity that your emperor has commissioned is an affront to liberty and life. It must be taken down. Please see that Ani. You have to come back to us. Back to me. Please.”   
His eyes snapped back into reality then, shifting back to a menacing gold.  
“When we meet again, my love, you will be the one coming to me.” he murmured, turning from her. "I promise you that.”  
And with that, he was gone.  
She sighed heavily, being released from some sort of trance and sagging against the nearest wall.   
“Padmé?”  
Spinning on her heel Padmé stared wide-eyed at Obi-Wan Kenobi.  
“You mind explaining to me what that was all about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this.  
> I hope you liked it.  
> Next chapter will be up next Sunday, so look forward to it.  
> Thank you again.  
> See you in the next chapter.


	3. Pamde Skywalker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this one is a little late, but here it is.  
> Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter and for pointing out my spelling issues. When I write the first draft I just type and save spelling corrections for the second draft. I completely spaced some of the issues though, so thank you for helping me with that. Sorry about that.  
> Please keep letting me know what you think.  
> I own nothing, Goerge Lucus can contest that.  
> Enjoy.

He could sense her coming.  
Just a few more hyper jumps and she would be in his sights.  
This time, he wouldn’t let her get away.  
He would make this right.  
What that meant, he wasn’t certain about yet.   
He just knew he would make it right, no matter what.

XXX  
She was avoiding Obi Wan.  
She couldn’t face him after their conversation in the garden. 

“What did you see?” she asked, side-stepping his question for the moment, just so she knew what was safe to say.  
“I’m not sure.” he said carefully, stepping closer to her, cornering her so she couldn’t run. “I could feel something, but all I saw was you talking to the wall.”  
Stealing herself, she nodded.  
“What did you feel?”  
Catching and keeping her eyes, he said one name.  
“Anakin.”  
Looking away at that, Padmé pulled a shaky breath to steady herself.   
“Was that who you were talking to?”  
Looking up again she squared her shoulders and tilted her chin up.   
“Yes,” she answered. “Yes, I was speaking with Anakin.”  
He nodded, backing up a bit and rubbing his chin.   
“I could only hear your end, and feel his,” he told her. “What were you talking about?”  
“If you're trying to ask if I told him about our plans to attack the Death Star, no, I’m not that faithless or stupid.”  
“That is not what I was getting at.” he balked, looking stricken. “I just, that honestly hadn’t even crossed my mind.”  
“Then what were you trying to ask?” she demanded.   
“I…” he took a moment to put his words together before continuing. “I wanted to know how he was doing? And if there was any hope of him coming back?”  
Seeing the hope in his eyes, her demeanor softened and she wrapped her arms around herself.   
“If I’m being honest, I don’t know,” she affirmed. “I’ve been trying to make him see that there is a path between light and dark that would let him live the life he wants. Fight for the peace and justice of the Galaxy, and come home to me without any secrets or hiding. But he just… the Emperor has him so scared.”  
“That path you're talking about…” he murmured, narrowing his eyes in thought. “What do you mean?”  
“There is this other sect of Jedi, called the Gray Jedi,” she told him. “They believe that light and dark are meant to be balanced, not one side or the other.”  
“It’s impossible.” he shook his head. “The way of the gray is too close to the dark side. It’s too dangerous. Passion leads to fear of loss. That’s how we got in this situation in the first place.”  
“Are you blaming me for what Anakin did?” she accused- in all honesty, she knew he wasn’t but she was getting tired of these Jedi’s rigid minds.  
“No of course not.” he shook his head. “I wanted desperately to give into that same passion, and the fear of losing Satine was enough to drive me mad. But in the end, I controlled myself and preserved my ideals and hers.”   
“Why can’t you even imagine that this may be the best path for Anakin?” She growled, throwing her hands up in the air. “What is it with you Jedi? Can’t you see that the path of just light isn’t enough? Anakin was meant to bring balance to the force. As I see it, that means both light and dark. The Gray Jedi order seems to be the logical choice in that case.”  
“It is too dangerous.” he insisted.  
“You’re blind just like the others.” she shot back. “Anakin told me about the duel between Yoda and Dukku. Told me about how the count sent heavy objects flying around the room while Yoda struggled to lift one away from you and Anakin.”  
“He could do that because he was fueled by negative emotions.”   
“So imagine what one could do with positive.” she implored. “Don’t you understand? Your emotions aren’t meant to be ignored. Doing so only bottles them up and soon enough they’ll blow. But if you were to channel them and direct them towards your goals it could make you all the more powerful and successful in your endeavors. Please, Obi Wan, you must see this.”  
He held her gaze for a moment longer before he shook his head.  
“I will do what I can to help you save Anakin.” He swore. “But the way of the gray is too dangerous.”  
Clenching her fists, she squared her shoulders once more then breezed past him.  
“Then there is nothing left to say on the matter.” she concluded. “We’ll save him. Bring him back to our side, but I won’t let the Jedi take him, and continue to twist him till he goes dark again.”  
That last bit was a jab but she wasn’t sorry.  
It was true.  
But now she and Obi Wan have been more or less avoiding each other. Which was a strain when it came to group meetings and such. Their connection was frayed now.  
Still, they kept up a professional appearance and did their duty.  
Right up to the day they were launching their assault.   
“We have to assume that the Emperor is already aware of our plans to attack.” Obi Wan announced, hosting a briefing before the attack. “We do not have the element of surprise, but that should not deter us from what must be done. However, I doubt that he’ll expect us to infiltrate the Death Star and take all its information.”  
“You will wait for fifteen minutes before you descend on the ship.” Padmé told them, taking up her role of general just for the moment. Wearing her modified robes with the hood up keeping the facial cloak activated giving her the face of Queen Amidala, speaking in the queen's voice- no one truly knew if it was her or one of the other handmaidens. “The handmaidens of Amidala and the Jedi will be going aboard the Death Star and acquire all the information that we can. Once we’re clear the starfighter fleet will go for the weak point.”  
“And what if you don’t make it out in time in time?” someone from the crowd asked. “What if you are all taken out before you get a chance.”  
“Take the shot.” Mace Windu ordered. “Even if there is no chance of us, this ship must be destroyed no matter what. Destroy it whether we make it out or not.”  
They all looked to Obi Wan and Padmé, hearts growing heavy with the thought of sacrificing their leaders.  
“Do as he says.” Obi Wan nodded, channeling Padmé’s own thoughts on the matter. “And should your command die, I name Ahsoka Tano as new general of the Resistance.”  
The former Jedi straightened and nodded.  
“I pray it will not come to that, but I graciously accept.” she bowed her head, mostly to Padmé.   
“If that is all the questions there are, we will now start our preparations.” Amidala concluded, dismissing the assembled mass.

The small ship they were taking was easily missed, especially with their Cloaker initiated. So getting onto the landing dock was relatively easy, add that to the fact that they had three Jedi, and infiltrating the in-process ship was easy enough. Still didn't stop them from keeping to the shadows.   
"You will show us to the data banks." Obi Wan waved his hand at the pair of Stormtroopers that managed to find them.  
"Follow us." One of them gestured down the hall.  
Taking up the rear, Padmé held her blaster ready just in case.   
“Okay, Rabe, get as much data as you can.” Mace Windu instructed, taking up a guard post at the door.   
Rolling her eyes, one of the handmaidens stepped up to the monitors, pressing buttons and turning nobs. If it wasn’t for their connection with the force, the Jedi wouldn’t have even known who was who, even Sashe wore boots that made her just as tall as the others.   
Padmé was not comfortable standing next to Obi Wan, or Mace Windu so she stood before the monitors watching them for any sign they’ve been caught.  
“T-minus seven minutes before the fleet shows up.” Sabe warned, she seemed to have no problem standing next to the other Jedi.   
“I’m working on it.” Rabe hissed. “This stuff is encrypted up three ways from the outer rim and back.”  
“Stay calm.” Padmé soothed, though her voice had a barely noticeable tremble to it. “You can do this.”  
With a small nod from Rabe, Padmé turned back to the monitors, distancing herself from the group.  
“Worried, you are,” Yoda said beside her, making her jump. “See him again, you might.”  
Padmé sighed.   
“I don't know what I’ll do if I see him,” she admitted. “I… I still love him. But what he’s done, what he’s doing… I don’t know how…”  
“Forgive him, you will.” Yoda hummed, giving her a small smile. “Guide him, you must. His path, difficult it will be, he will need you. The prophecy will be fulfilled.”  
“But…” she clenched her fists and faced the old master. “I can’t believe in the path of the Jedi, and I definitely don’t believe in the path of the Sith. Not after what they have done to us. I won’t let him continue down these-”  
“True it is.” Yoda nodded. “Both paths, failed Skywalker they have. A new path, maybe better to take.”  
“The path of the gray,” she murmured.  
“The path of balance.” he nodded.  
“Balance.” she agreed.  
“I got it.” Rabe called, pulling the flash drive from the console. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”  
Nodding they formed up and moved out.  
They had barely made it halfway to the hanger when they came face to face with a march of Stormtroopers.   
“Over there, intruders! Fire!”  
Ducking behind supports and doorways the handmaidens let loose a barrage of blasts barely taking time to aim while the Jedi deflected enemies' shots with their blades.   
“Five minutes.” Eirte called over the battle. “We need to get to the hanger.”  
“We’ll have to push through.” Mace Windu grunted looking at the other Jedi.  
As one they force pushed the troopers against the nearest wall, stunning them and giving the handmaidens time to take precise aim and finish them.   
“Go!” Obi Wan called.   
Now they were sprinting down the halls, stopping every few feet to gun down more troopers.  
“This is taking too long,” Sabe growled. “The fleet will be here soon and we’ll be sitting womp rats.”  
“We’ll get there.” Mace promised. “Just keep firing.”  
“And what if they’ve seized our ship?” Yane asked. “What do we do then?”  
“We liberate it.” Padmé urged. “We’ll get out of here. Just keep firing.”  
Hearing her, the handmaidens quieted their worries and kept moving.  
“There, the hanger.” Obi Wan called.  
Cautiously they swept the hall and dashed for the doors almost home free.  
“Padmé~”  
Freezing on the spot, Padmé Amidala gasped at the sheer intensity of the call almost collapsing to her knees from it.   
He was here, on the ship, she could feel him.   
“Anakin~” she called back trance-like.  
“Come to me, I can feel you. Padmé~”  
The others hadn’t noticed that she had stopped.   
He was here, on this doomed ship.  
He was calling to her.  
This may be her last chance.  
Her last chance to save him, to bring him home.  
She had to go to him.

“Thank the force.” Eirte sighed as she slunk into the pilot seat. “Take off in T-minus three minutes.”  
Gasping, Obi Wan bowed in on himself suddenly.  
“Is something wrong, Master Obi Wan?” Mace Windu asked at the same time Sabe called;  
“Where is Padmé?”  
“Hold position.” Obi Wan ordered through practiced vocal control. “I’ll find her.”  
“We’ll go with you.” Sabe insisted.  
“No, this is between myself, her, and my old Padawan.” he gritted.  
“Go.” Yoda urged. “And may the force be with you.”  
Nodding, Obi Wan headed for the ramp.  
“If I’m not back in three minutes, take off without us. We’ll find another way off.” He told them. “That is an order.” 

XXX  
“Padmé~”  
As she went deeper into the fledgling ship she started to come to her senses.  
She could have just told him to leave through their connection. Instead of possibly dooming them both by chasing after him. She wondered for a moment if he was using force persuasion on her and that’s why she was doing this. But she knew he wouldn’t have to do that. She had her mind, but when it came to his life… whenever Anakin was in danger it was like everything in her short-circuited and she forgot how to be practical. Now they were both in danger. She had to find him fast and get them both out of there before the fleet showed up.  
She ended up in a storage room barely finished and packed with stacks of large crates.   
“Anakin?” she called softly, her blaster ready in her hand just in case. “Ani, are you here?”  
In answer, a hulking figure in all black stepped out from behind one of the stacks. His even breathing audible through his mask and his eyes glowing an ominous red.   
“Padmé,” the monotone vocoder sighed as they were now facing each other.  
She grimaced.  
“Take that thing off, let me see you.” she growled, not under any obligation to humor his villainous persona nor any wish to. “I want to speak with my husband, Anakin Skywalker, I have no business with Darth Vader.”  
His low chuckle made her bristle, but all the same, he reached up and pressed the release button on his helmet and lifted it away from his face. It wasn’t quite Anakin. His eyes were all wrong. But Sith gold was better than murderous red.   
“Is that better, my love?” his lip twitched at the corner, but otherwise he looked blank and controlled.   
“Hardly.” she sniped.   
“You yourself were a mask.” he reminds, gesturing to her face. “The face of your queen persona does not suit you. It never did. It’s too lifeless, weighed down by the opinions of a planet.”  
“Now it is the face of a woman weighed down by the fate of a galaxy.” she deadpanned, taking on the queen’s voice, but feeling no satisfaction as he winced.  
“As is Vader.” Anakin offered, holding up his helmet. “I gave you the honor, now if you could do the same. I would like to see my wife's face.”  
Considering this, they didn’t have time. But he wasn’t wrong. Nodding she lowered the hood, disengaging the facial cloak, laying herself bare for his eyes.  
He hummed softly, unable to stop himself from moving forward to caress her cheek with his gloved hand. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into the touch and sighed.   
“Ani.” she breathed.  
“I’ve missed you.” he moaned, wanting to pull her into him as he would normally do, but this was a different circumstance. “What have you come here for?”  
Remembering her unplanned mission, her eyes shot open and she backed away from him.   
“You need to leave this ship.” she urged. “It’s going to be attacked, you need to get out of here.”  
He studied her, before sighing and looking off to the side.   
“Master saw this coming,” he admitted. “He had hoped that I could find you first, and the others you brought, use you as hostages to keep the fleet from attacking.”  
Her eyes widened and she backed away further.  
“You would use me in such a way?” she accosted.   
“No.” he urged, stepping closer to her, backing her into a wall. “Never. I hoped to talk to you, to convince you to not do this.”  
“You know I can’t.” she shook her head. “This ship needs to be taken out for the sake of the galaxy.”  
“Oh well.” he sighed, letting his eyes close as he breathed through his nose. “We can just build another one.”   
“You can’t.” she urged. “Ani, please, enough is enough. We can’t keep going on like this. We can’t hurt each other, our battles will always come to a stand-still because of this. Just come with me. We’ll figure it all out far away from all this. Away from the Jedi, the Sith, and the Resistance. Please.”  
“You would abandon your cause for me?” he asked, skeptical. “That doesn’t sound like you.”  
“Your right, it doesn’t.” she mused, shaking her head. “But you were meant for more than all this. Helping you down the right path has been my true cause since the start of this. That, in the end, will save the galaxy.”  
“As mine has been to have you by my side.” he murmured.  
“Please.” she begged, holstering her blaster and pressing against him, her cheek laying on his chest, her arms wrapping around his torso. “Let's leave, I’ll be by your side. We’ll find the right path. You’ll bring true balance to the force.”  
Humming, content, he held her close, his cape pulling around them almost hiding them from prying eyes.  
Almost.  
“Let her go Anakin!”   
They both jumped- yet not apart- as Obi Wan’s voice boomed through the storage room.  
“Obi Wan.” Anakin growled.  
“Go!” Padmé urged, he was going to ruin everything, she was so close. “You have to go, there isn’t time.”  
“You intend to join him and leave the Resistance?” the Master queried. “Abandon everything we’ve worked for, everything you’ve built.”   
“My true mission has always been to save Anakin.” she insisted stepping away from her husband, but still keeping his hand. “Since the beginning, I always planned to save him. To help him find the path to balance. Because doing so will not only save my husband, myself, but everyone I care about and the galaxy. The force guides me in this, even if I can’t feel it. I know it.” she paused letting her words set in with both of them. “You should go. The fighting won’t end in my absence, they need you to lead them till we figure all this out. Tell Sabe that she is now Amidala.” Looking back to Anakin, he watched her, curious- though his eyes still filled with anger as they flitted to Obi Wan- smiling she squeezed his hand. “I was Naberrie, then Amidala, now I am Padmé Skywalker.” that got a small smile from him. Turning back to Obi Wan. “Go. Now before it’s too late.”  
The Master Jedi’s eyes slid from her to Anakin again and again before he set his jaw and straightened his back.  
“I can’t let you do this.” he told her. “I’ve told you before, the path of the gray is too dangerous.”  
“You’re wrong.” she persisted.  
“I can’t take the chance that I’m not.” he urged, stepping a little closer. “Not after everything that’s happened. “Now, I must insist, we have to leave now.”  
“I won’t let you take her from me again.” Anakin snarled, pulling Padmé behind him. “She doesn’t want to go with you.”  
“What will you do Anakin?” Obi Wan demanded. “Take her to Palpatine, make her bow before the dark side.”  
“Palpatine was merely a means to an end. A way to gain the power to protect Padmé. We’ll leave.” Anakin assured. “All I’ve wanted was a life with Padmé. If this path she’s talking about is the key to protecting her then I’ll go wherever she wants me to.”  
“And what if it isn’t? What then?”  
“I’ll do whatever is necessary to protect her,” he promised.   
“And that is the very reason why I can’t let you go.” Obi Wan shook his head. “If you would just come to your senses. Just see that you need to let go of all this, join us in defeating Palpatine.”  
“I won’t let her go.” Anakin gritted. “I will never let her go again.”  
Looking between them again, Obi Wan breathed deep through his nose. Reaching for his saber, he ignited and stood ready. Staring down his Padawan one last time.  
“Then so be it.” he breathed.   
Growling, Anakin drew his own, blood-red saber and charged.  
“Anakin, no!” Padmé screamed.   
But it went on deaf ears.   
The sound of clashing plasma was practically thunder in her ears. Red and blue met burning the room violet. She stayed close to the wall, her hand hovering over her blaster feeling the sickening sense of Deja Vu as she watched them circle and clash. She also felt something new. A burning in her belly. Like something was building fast and ready to burst any moment. Her senses tingled, sizzling every time their blades met. Something was happening, something was filling her, something that wasn't her. It was them, Anakin and Obi Wan and something else.  
"Stop it." She whimpered, cradling her stomach, a light sweat beading on her brow.  
It was still building. Becoming too much. She had to rid herself of it before it burned her up. Shut them out before they consumed her. She needed it all out. Needed it all to stop.  
"STOP!" She cried.  
Still, they ignored her.  
Using force push, Anakin sent Obi Wan flying back into a wall and leaped after him, saber raised. But Obi Wan was prepared for Anakin's thoughtless attack. Using the force and his former Padawan's momentum, pulling him to his blade.  
"I SAID STOP!" She screamed, throwing her hands out toward them.  
She felt a pulse release from her core, slamming into the two men. They went feet over head, rolling through the air before finally smacking into something solid. Obi Wan hit his head groaning, struggling, and failing to focus on the world around him. While Anakin just had the wind knocked out of him. He slid to the floor, his knees nearly buckling under him as he watched his wife wearily.   
Padmé was freaking out.  
Unable to grasp what just happened or what she did, she stared at Anakin, panic clear in her eyes. Her hands now shook in front of her as she brought them closer, finally breaking eye contact with her husband to stare at them. That had come from her, but it wasn't her. It was something inside her. Something alive. Freaking out, even more, her eyes shot up to Anakin hoping he had the answer.   
His own eyes shined with understanding. Taking a tentative step, he approached her slowly so as not to scare her.  
He could sense it.  
Inside her.  
The force curled protectively around it.  
No… them.  
There were two.   
Twins.  
He was standing meters from her now, eyes still locked. His vision of her dying in childbirth running through his mind, replaying over and over again. The fear was debilitating. She was pleading with her eyes for him to tell what was going on. So scared. She had an idea of what had happened but not what it meant. He couldn’t help the terror that he knew was clouding his eyes or how they glanced down to her stomach and stayed there. It took her nano-seconds to understand. Her hands flew to her belly pressing as if to confirm. In response, she felt a fluttering that made her stiffen.  
“Oh.” she breathed before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped forward.  
Reflexively he stooped to catch her and held her close.  
“It’s gonna be okay.” he promised, pressing his lips to her temple. “I’ll figure this out. Everythings gonna be okay.”  
“Anakin!”   
Glaring over his shoulder, Anakin reviewed his options and concluded that this wasn’t the time.  
“You need to leave,” he told the man, lifting Padmé and cradling her in his arms. “From what I understand, your fleet will be here soon to destroy this ship.”  
“And where are you going to go?” Obi Wan demanded.  
“Somewhere safe.” was all Anakin offered before starting for the door.  
“Anakin, don’t do this. It’s not too late. Come back to us.”  
The words caught the Sith lord off guard. Did his master think he could go back? After everything the Jedi did to him? After everything he did? There was no way. Growling, he pivoted to lay into his former master only to spot something that makes him pause. His helmet was left on the ground where he dropped it before.   
Why did he wear that thing?  
Because Sidious wanted him to? Because it gave him an identity separate from Anakin Skywalker? And why did he want that? What good did it do? What did it accomplish?  
Nothing.  
A guttural snarl ripped itself from his throat as he clenched his hands tighter, focusing on the force energy around the helmet. It gave a pathetic groan of protest as it was forced in on itself, bending in and in until it was nothing but a crumpled metal ball. Satisfied he glanced back over his shoulder and nodded to his former master.  
“Good-by Obi Wan Kenobi.” and with that, he was gone.  
“Anakin, wait!”   
“General Kenobi, we can’t wait anymore the fleet is here!” Sabe called through the comms. “Please come back.”  
He was out of time.   
Gritting his teeth he ran back down the corridors and to the hanger, jumping on the ship at the last minute.  
“Where is Padmé?” Sabe demanded.  
“Anakin has her.” Obi Wan huffed, watching as the fleet descended on the to-be Death Star.   
“Then we have to go back for her.” Dorne urged.   
“No time.” Obi Wan shook his head. “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.”  
“General Kenobi,” Windu warned.  
“We have other things to worry about.” Obi Wan cut him off. “They’ll be fine.”  
He had to hold onto the faith of that lest he loses himself to grief.   
He failed both of them. Anakin as a master. And Padmé as a friend.  
What had he done?  
At a safe distance, they watched as the Bo Katan’s fleet starfighter fired off two blasts then retreated. Within seconds the whole structure was blown apart into dust and molten globs. The mission was now complete.  
Looking out into the expanse of space, Obi Wan reached out with the force, searching for the signature of his former Padawan. What he felt was more than he could imagine. He could feel Anakin’s signature, alive and thriving, but he could also feel two others.  
“It couldn’t be.” he gasped.  
“True, it is.”  
Rounding on Master Yoda, Obi Wan gapped.  
“With child, she is.” he hummed. “Two, there be. Strong with the force already, they are.”  
“But…” he shook his head trying to wrap his head around this. “How could this happen.”  
“Important is not how.” Yoda shook his head. “Happened, it did. Focus on the war, we must.”  
“But-”  
“Balance to the force, he will bring,” Yoda promised. “Child, the key they may be.”  
What was Obi Wan supposed to even think? This went against all the Jedi codes and had no protocol to follow. He had no idea how to help his friends now.  
“I hope you're right, Master.” he sighed, deflated, and resigned. “I hope you're right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading this story, it means a lot to me.  
> Please leave a review to let me know how you liked it or if it was lacking anything.  
> I'd love to hear what you have to say.  
> Next chapter will be out next Sunday.  
> Thank you again.  
> See you in the next chapter.


	4. Legacies of the Force

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following is a non profit fan based parody.  
> Star Wars is the creation of Goerge Lucus and fostered by Disney.  
> Please support the official release.  
> Enjoy.

“Oh,” more than a thousand light-years away, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Sidious, felt the exact moment his apprentice realized what he already knew. “And now he will run.” he chuckled. “No matter, soon enough I will find them. Where the father failed, perhaps the children will prevail.”  
His dark throne room rumbled with his low cackles as he let the force show him what came next.  
“Soon, young Skywalker, you will die.”  
XXX  
Anakin Skywalker had been in more than his fair share of close call situations.   
But this was too close even for him.  
He ran as fast as he could while cradling his wife in his arms, using the force to keep them balanced. The fleet was close, he could feel them in the force. Palpatine sent a decent amount of soldiers to defend the Death Star, however, Anakin knew it wouldn’t be enough. He could feel it. The Death Star would fall this day and he now refused to be there when they started a new one.   
Padmé was finally with him again.  
Padmé, and his children.  
He had to blink the awful vision of losing all three of them from his eyes as he ran. It was no good, however. Her haunting screams, the sheer pain that emanated from her, her sightless eyes, over and over again making it hard to focus on so much as breathing.  
It crossed his mind to fly right to Palpatine, to make the old Sith make good on his promise to save her.   
“No.” he growled, shaking away the thought.  
Palpatine had said that he did not know for sure how to save her, it was all theory. He couldn’t take that chance. In ten short months his children- approximately- would be here and he couldn’t waste a single second of that time working through theories and hypotheses. He needed cold hard proven facts. Absolutes.  
That made him snort.  
“Only the Sith deal in absolutes.” Obi-Wan told him that before, back on Mustafar?  
Well, he had become a Sith, so perhaps that was fine, in the end, it didn’t matter.  
Nothing but his family mattered.  
He joined the dark side for her, but he will leave it and the light- if needed- for his children.  
He would find a balance for them, to protect them, to keep them.  
It was almost dizzying how certain he was that this was right. It was almost as if the second she told him about this third path he just knew that it was the one he had to take. It was the only one that made sense. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to do it, but he would.   
No matter what.  
“Hold on Padmé.” he murmured coming up on his ship.   
Maneuvering her in his lap carefully, he sat in the cockpit, leaning her against his chest. He strapped them in with much difficulty before nuzzling her temple and starting up the Star Destroyer that brought him. He ignored the Stormtrooper rushing around in practiced protocol as his ship lifted feet off the ground. Before any of them could figure out what he was up to, he gunned it through the doorway and put in coordinates for a random hyperjump course. He wasn’t paying attention to what he put in, letting the force guide his actions and hoping it would take them somewhere safe. Once they made the jump he started to relax. Letting his hands fall from the yoke, he wrapped his still unconscious wife in his arms and held as close as was possible.  
“We made it,” he told her, softly. “We’ll be safe soon.”   
He knew he should take her to one of the births, so they both could rest. But moving right at that moment didn’t seem possible. He was tired and weary after everything he has been through.  
He was so sure he was doing the right thing, following Palpatine’s orders. But after what it nearly cost him… He nearly killed Padmé and his children. Though he didn’t know that she was pregnant. Still. What would have happened if he had killed her that day on Mustafar? He would have fallen completely and wholely to the dark-side with no hope of coming back. Though now he wasn’t even sure he was turning away from the dark side. He was turning from Palpatine, but the dark-side was still calling to him. Regardless, if it meant keeping Padmé and his children safe and with him he would go wherever she wanted. Leave the whole galaxy behind so they could live in peace.   
“We’ll be okay now.” he murmured, his eyelids growing heavy. “We’ll be okay.”

XXX  
“What do you mean he took her?” Ahsoka demanded cooly as soon as Obi-Wan briefed her. “How could you let him do that?”  
“I didn’t exactly have a choice.” Obi-Wan sighed, falling heavily into a desk chair. “She wanted to go with him. I couldn’t stop either of them in the end.”  
“Why would she want to go back to Palpatine?” Ahsoka asked.   
“No, apparently they are not going to Palpatine. She somehow convinced him to leave the Empire altogether. So they can find balance.”  
“Balance…” she hummed, looking out the viewport, up into the deep night.  
“Did you succeed?” Obi-Wan asked, tired and weighed down.  
“Yes.” she nodded, going back to soldier mode. “All the engineers have been liberated and brought here. Jyn was very happy to see her father.”  
“And how does Erso fair?”  
“He is willing to join our cause as long as we keep his Stardust safe.” she smiled at the name.  
Like most Jedi, she didn’t remember her parents or ever get the chance to know them. Anakin and Padmé were the closest she had. Though she wasn’t willing to admit it till after she left the Jedi order after she found balance.  
Would she ever get the chance to tell them now?  
“Good.” Obi-Wan nodded. “At least our core missions have gone as planned. That is good.”  
“Should we go after them?” she asked, honest and imploring.  
She wanted to go after them.  
“No, not yet.” he shook his head. “The Force guides them. They’ll come back when it is time.”  
There was something he wasn’t telling her. She didn’t need to confer with the Force to know that. Before the Death Star, he had been gun-hoe with Padmé to bring Anakin back, and now… he found out something, or the Force showed him, and he wasn’t telling her.  
“Whatever you're not telling me,” she began, turning her back on him so it was like they weren't exactly speaking to each other. “If more people knew would it put them in danger, not just from the Empire, but also our people?”  
She knew he had an understanding that she was talking about certain Jedi and soldiers in their party, feeling the moment he made the connection.  
Feeling his agreement through the Force.  
“Then don’t tell me,” she concluded. “For now.”  
“For now.” he agreed. “The time will come. Trust the Force.”  
Nodding she took her leave.  
Her Master and friend would come back. She knew that. She didn’t have much faith in the order she devoted most of her life to, but she had absolute faith in the Force.  
“We’ll meet again.” she smiled. “And when we do there will be balance.”  
XXX

Padmé woke with a start.   
Lights were flashing red and alarms were blaring all around her. Startling into action she went to sit properly to go about fixing it only to find she was awkwardly strapped into the pilot's chair, in Anakin’s lap.  
“Anakin!” she called. “Please wake up!”  
He didn’t stir.  
With the position she was in it was difficult to get the straps off then back on as she sat upright in between his legs. Flipping switches and scanning screens she concluded that they were set to crash land on a planet because they were still in hyperspace. It was like the planet just moved into their path. But that shouldn’t be possible.   
“Kriff.” she gritted, flipping more switches before gulping and grabbing the level. “This is gonna be rough.”  
With a deep breath, she pulled it back, dropping them out of hyperspace as they were clearing the planet’s atmosphere.  
“Oh, gods!” She screamed as she wrestled with the yoke.   
Pulling it side to side, back and forth, trying to regain control through a mighty thunderstorm.   
Alarms were still blaring, and her vision was tinted red but she tried to keep her focus as lightning blazed by them.  
“What the hell!” Anakin cried, finally waking up. “What is going on?”  
“We were going to travel right through this planet because we were still in hyperspace,” she told him, jerking them to the left to miss a massive bolt. “I managed to knock us out of it but we were already past atmo.”  
“That’s- give me that!” he called reaching past her to gain control.  
She would have happily given him control. He was the better pilot anyway. But his hands were now over hers keeping them trapped against the yoke. So she just let them go limp as he guided the ship with practiced ease.   
“Where are we?” he demanded.   
“I don‘t know.” she informed, glancing at the navigation monitors. “This planet isn’t registered.”  
“That can’t be right.” he shook his head.   
“Did you set a course for the unknown rim?” she asked.  
“I… I don’t know.” he shook his head. “The ship was about to blow, you were unconscious, and I couldn’t risk Palpatine catching on to what I was doing. So I just pressed buttons.”  
“Oh.” she breathed, then remembered why she fainted. “OH!”  
“No,” Anakin urged. “Don’t do that again, just listen to my voice.”  
“Ani, I’m... but how? I mean I know how, but how did we not know?”  
“I knew,” he said gravely. “I just didn’t know I knew. My visions were trying to tell me.”  
“Your vision?”   
His visions of her dying in childbirth.  
“Oh, gods…” the world was getting blurry now.  
“Stop!” he growled, not unkindly, just enough to get her to focus on him. “We’ll think about that after we land. I need you to find a place for that. Padmé, can you do that?”  
She knew he was asking her only to keep her focused, but it still irked her the way it always will when someone questioned her capabilities.   
“Yes.” she nodded, looking over to the nave monitors.   
It was awkward with where she was sitting, but there was no way she was standing now, nor would he let her as she knew. Not with her condition. But she managed to see that most of this planet was an ocean. That wasn’t helpful. They couldn’t land in the water.  
“Padmé?” he ticked.  
“I’m looking.” she promised. “This planet is mostly just- wait… there!” she beamed at the conical-shaped island. “Just ahead of us. Keep going straight, I’ll let you know if we stray.”   
He nodded, taking direction from her through her thoughts and emotions. The connection was stronger than before, she could feel it. Could feel his signature caressing her mind and feelings. She had thought that it was because he was the chosen one, or because the dark-side was making him stronger. Now she knew that wasn’t the case. It was her child reaching out to him. Calling him back to them. She wanted to know more about that connection, and about the power that would build up inside her till it was ready to burst.  
“Anakin,” she began.  
“I’ll answer all your questions after we’ve landed and found someplace safe,” he promised. “Until then, I need to concentrate.”   
She nodded going back to monitors.  
“There.” she told him, pointing out the viewport.   
“Hold on.” he warned.   
The landing was rough, the closest thing they could find to flat ground was a rain-soaked beach. The whole ship shuttered as they came down hard and sunk into the wet sand, making them both wince. After they were sure it was settled, they finally let themselves relax, sagging into the pilot’s chair and just sitting for a moment while it all calmed around them.   
“Let’s get out of here.” Anakin sighed. “This ship needs to be destroyed as soon as possible so the Empire can’t track it. But I need to get you somewhere safe first.”  
“But what if we need to get off this planet?” she asked.  
“We can’t risk it.”  
“Anakin, we can’t be stranded.” she insisted. “It could be too late. They could be on their way already.”  
“Padmé,” he urged, cupping her face to keep her attention. “I’ll put something together. Something that can’t be tracked by them. There are bound to be more islands. When the time comes, I’ll get us off this planet. I promise.”  
“Okay.” she gave up the fight, feeling exhausted all over again.  
“C’mon.” He murmured helping her up and walking her off the ship.  
The storm was beyond tumultuous, with winds so strong they were nearly knocked off their feet.   
“Stay close.” he told her, wrapping his cape around her.   
She huddled as close as was possible, letting him guide her. They found an ancient set of stone steps and began climbing them. If there was a civilization on this island then these steps must lead to them, or at least that was their thought. The higher they got, the harder the climb was. At some point, Anakin stopped and lifted Padmé into his arms instructing her to close the cape around her and she did. She could feel the force wrapping around them on his askance to steady them as they went on.   
The trek was long and nerve-racking. More than once, Anakin almost toppled down the steps making Pamde squeak in surprise. She couldn’t see much past the cape as he insisted that she remain tucked in completely to keep from getting wet. Thankfully the cape was relatively water-resistant so she only felt a bit damp rather than soaked. She could only imagine how soaked Anakin was at that moment.   
“Thank the force.” she heard him huff as he paused.  
Risking his ire, she peeked between the folds squinting past the rain and wind and seeing a cluster of huts.   
Anakin marched to the closest one and walked right in past the cloth covering over the door.  
“Ani!” Padmé chastized.  
But there was no one in the hut.  
“There isn’t anyone here, or in any of the others,” he told her. “I’m not sure why, but this village seems to be empty.”   
“Oh.” she hummed.  
Though it was devoid of life, there were pots and a cot so at some point someone lived there. Quickly he set her down on the cot, removing his cape and draping her in it. Sure she was comfortable, he turned to the small fire pit in the center of the hut and got to work gathering whatever would burn. Soon enough the hut was filled with orange and red light, heating the room to a comfortable temperature.  
“Stay here.” he told her.  
“Wait, what are you-”  
“I have to destroy the ship.” he told her. “And grab the food and blankets we have on it.”  
“I can-”  
“No,” he urged. “Stay here and rest.”  
“I’m pregnant, not disabled.” she growled.  
“And sensitive with the force.” he reminded her. “At least while you're pregnant it seems. That can be unpredictable. Please, just stay here for now. We’ll start figuring this out when I get back.”   
She glared at him, before relenting, curling the cape tighter around her.   
“Thank you.” he nodded, then rushed out into the storm.  
“Skywalkers.” she huffed, for lack of anything else to huff.  
As if in answer, the beings inside her jumped causing a flutter in her belly.  
“Oh.” she gasped suddenly realizing that it wasn’t just one. “Two…”  
She could feel them, they were reaching out for her. Two distinct lights beaming with love and curiosity. Placing a hand on her still flat belly she smiled feeling a small sense of peace in this little hut away from the galaxy.  
“I’m here, darlings.” she cooed. “I’m here. I’m your mommy.”  
The fluttering got more intense.  
They were excited. They liked when she talked. So she kept doing it.  
“I love you.” she told them, just then realizing that it was true. She loved these two beings in the making with everything she had. “I love you so much. And no matter what happens, I will protect you. Your daddy will protect you. Everything will be okay. I love you so much.”  
A rush bloomed from her belly to her heart making her gasp and tear up.  
They were filling her with their love.  
They loved her too.

XXX  
The trek down was a bit easier than up. Though Anakin thought decidedly, that could be because the wind was pushing him down the steps as if urging him from his wife and children. He felt it the moment he touched the sand of the beach. This place, this island, maybe even the planet itself, was strong with the force. Steeped in its connection to it even. It regarded him. Found him unbalanced and kept trying to push him somewhere. He refused to listen to it just then, he had to look after Padmé and the babies.  
Babies.  
He was going to be a father.  
Smiling wistfully, he reached out through the force to Padmé.   
Almost being knocked over by the unyielding love he feels. It knocks something in him that was loose. Pushing it back into place, making him feel whole again. His children are so strong with the force, they can communicate somewhat with their mother. He can feel them reaching out to her with their love. Filling her with it. She tried to do the same, and they could feel it. He smiled in place, basking in the beautiful feeling before being nearly knocked off his feet again. His children sensed him. At first, they were cautious. Unsure of how to perceive this new presence. But then… they recognized him.   
“Hello,” he called breathlessly. “My little ones. I’m your father.”  
The same love that filled their mother flooded him, bringing tears to his eyes.  
“I love you too,” he told them. “I love you both and your momma. I will never let anything hurt you. I love you more than I can say.”  
This whole time, he assumed his power was what connected him to Padmé, but it was his children. Their strength was beyond anything he has seen or felt. There would be people out there that would want that power for themselves.  
Palpatine would want that power.  
“Never.” he snarled, filling with panic and a protective rage.  
That spooked his children and they shrank back from him.  
“No,” he whispered- panicked for another reason now- reaching out to them, pulling them gently back to him. “I’m sorry, little ones.” he crooned. “I’m sorry I scared you. Papa isn’t mad with you, promise.”  
He could feel them prodding him, looking for the answer to his rage, but he shielded them from it.  
“You don’t need to worry about it.” he assured them. “All you need to know is that I love you both and nothing else in this galaxy besides you and your momma matter.”  
It was true, he realized.  
He didn’t care about the balance or the war or being the chosen one. None of it mattered when compared to his little family. He knows he promised that he would do whatever Padmé wanted, to make her happy and to keep her with him, and to hopefully find a way to keep her safe. But he never asked for this. When he was a boy he just wanted to pilot something bigger than a podracer. Then he saw Padmé for the first time. Even at nine years old he knew he was meant to spend the rest of his life with her. And after seeing her again after ten years the certainty of that feeling was stronger. Maybe it was just his yearning for her, but he seriously doubted. The force brought them together. Most likely to make him realize his destiny. But he didn’t want that.   
He just wanted a life with Padmé and his children.  
“Rest little ones,” he told his babies. “You’ll make your mommy tired.”  
That had them drawing back almost instantly getting a smile from their proud papa. Not even born and his children were already trying to protect their mother. He nodded in approval, going back to the task of getting the supplies and destroying the ship.

When he got back to the hut, Padmé was sitting on the cot, smiling at her belly and rubbing it.  
“I think they're sleeping,” she told him. “They were active a moment ago.”  
“I know.” he nodded, setting their stock down and joining her on the bed. “I felt them.”  
“I know.” she nodded. “I felt you in our connection.” then her brow furrowed. “I felt your panic and rage, what happened?”  
He breathed deep through his nose not wanting to talk about this but knowing she had to know.   
“They’re already so strong,” he began. “If Palpatine or others of his mindset knew, they would try to use them for their gain.”  
“No!” she cried softly, not wanting to wake her children. “I won’t let them.”  
“Nor I.” he promised. “But I need to be stronger than I am now to make sure that never happens.”  
She studied him, worried. It was his need to protect her that drove him to search for power and ultimately to the dark side. Would his fear of losing the children drive him further down that path.  
“No,” he answered her. “The dark side… it wasn’t what I thought. I want to protect our children, but…. there has to be another way.”  
“Balance.” she nodded. “I’ll try to teach you what I learned from the Gray Jedi texts. But I can’t do much more than that.”  
“That is all I can ask of you.” he smiled, shielding her from his mind so she didn’t sense his turmoil on this subject. “For now, let’s rest. It’s been a long day.”  
Nodding she pulled him to her, still wet from the storm, and wrapped them both in his cape.  
Sleep came fitfully, but quickly.  
It had been a long day indeed.

XXX  
Away from their little island and the unregistered planet, the fight for galactical freedom continued with a tug of war aesthetic. The Empire would attack the rebels, the rebels would push them back, on and on it went. Without ever seeming to resolve anything.  
But Padmé and Anakin had no idea of this.  
Away on their island and the unregistered planet, they had a whole new plot unfurling before them.  
And it all started with a tree. 

Padmé woke a few the next morning, sluggish and wanting to go back to sleep. But the babies weren’t going to allow her. They were tumbling around in her, excited about something.   
“What are you two doing?” she groaned sitting up.  
Anakin was still asleep, his arm curled protectively around her waist. She decided not to wake him up, carefully getting up and tucking the cape around him. The fire was dying so she added more to it to keep the hut warm, but it had already gotten a bit chilly. Wrapping one of the blankets around herself she peeked out past the fabric door. With the morning came the sun, though it was still overcast and chilly. She stood on the stone path, getting a better look at their hideout. The cluster of huts looked abandoned but clean like someone was still taking care of them. She wondered if maybe they were on some sort of sacred historical sight and hoped not. She’d hate to have to explain to the locals that they burned some of the things they found in their hut for warmth.   
“Calm down, darlings.” she hushed, rubbing her belly.  
But they wouldn’t. They were moving as fast as their little bodies could manage to make her a bit nauseous.  
“What is it?” she moaned.  
In answer, they connected her to the force. She’ll never get used to this. The rush of energy filled her whole body and connected her to everything around her and beyond. She couldn’t comprehend how Anakin and the others ever kept from going mad with everything reaching out to them. It seemed her children were exposed earlier than most so they wouldn’t know the difference, that was good. But for her, it still took a bit before she could focus. It was like this every time Anakin reached out to her as well. Any exposure to the force made her go funny for a moment.  
“Momma needs a moment, darlings.” she hushed them.  
They seemed to understand that and began to filter the exposure so it was less abrupt.  
“Oh.” she gasped, amazed and a little startled. Where fetus supposed to be this understanding? They were children descended from the force itself, if you believed the stories about Anakin’s birth. Which, with how strong and competent her children already seemed to be, she did. “Thank you, darlings. Now, what has you so excited?”   
Again they began to channel their feelings into her.  
A pull.  
Much like the one, she felt when Anakin called, but subtler, less urgent. More curiosity stroking, less imploring. Yet not any less strong. It was called to her children, wanting them to come to it. Glancing back at the hut, she contemplated waking Anakin. But if it was calling to her children it would most likely call to him as well. Even if not, perhaps this was something only for her children. She didn’t like the idea of keeping him out of this but something told her that it would all be alright and that she should just go.   
So, with a deep breath, she went.   
Living on Naboo, then Coruscant, she had never seen a consistent cast of clouds like this before. Most days on both were blue skies and clear nights. Here it was all gray with peeking blue. It was a nice change and made her feel a bit more… connected with the world around her.   
Or maybe that was just the vibe from this world.  
She couldn’t focus on anything else once they landed, other than the realization that she was pregnant with two very powerful force-sensitive children. So she didn’t let herself feel what was around her. Let her children’s powers flow through her and connect her to everything around her. She’d bet Anakin already felt this, but this planet was teaming with the force. Some sort of alignment with the planets and stars maybe, but either way it was strong. It might also be why her connection with her children all the stronger.   
And why the pull she felt now was so strong.  
A pull that seemed to be leading her to a long since dead tree.   
“Oof,” she grunted, feeling like her twins just lurched in her stomach. “Calm down, babies.” she cooed. “Mommy’s going.”  
Keeping to her word, she moved forward stepping up to the tree and seeing that there was a hole, or the inside had been carved and hollowed.   
“Something…” she hummed. “Used to be here, something important. Something sacred.”  
Not sure how she knew that she walked further into the tree and gasped.  
The voices that assaulted her mind were loud and numerous. A cluster of shouting and calm lectures of voices that she didn’t understand.   
“Pamde?”  
Snapping, abruptly, out of her little trance, she spun on her heels finding Anakin standing in the mouth of the trunk.  
“Are you okay?” he asked.  
“I’m…” the voices were gone, but the sense of others being there wasn’t. “I was…”  
“Pulled here?” he asked, stepping in and tensing as he felt it too. “This place is strong with the force. It connects with those who have passed on and become one of the force.” looking to her he nodded. “You can sense them. Can’t you?”  
She shook her head, rubbing her hand over her belly.  
“The babies let me feel it,” she told him. “They let me feel everything they feel.”  
“They want you to understand.” he hummed, pulling her to him. “I got worried when I woke up and you weren’t there.”  
“I’m sorry.” she sighed, pressing her cheek to his chest.  
“I understand.” he nodded. “When the force calls on you, it’s not wise to avoid it.”  
Indeed, it’s not.  
They both jumped looking at the entrance. Glancing at each other they had a silent agreement and moved slowly exiting the tree. Through the shimmering mist of the morning, a man could be seen taking shape.  
“It can’t be?” Anakin gasped.  
Before them Qui Gon Jinn’s image took shape.  
“Hello Ani.” the old master smiled. “I think it’s time we talked.”   
“Master Qui Gon.” Anakin gulped.  
“How?” Padmé breathed.  
“You're seeing me through your children’s connection to the force.” Qui Gon told her. “I am apart of the force, and it has allowed me to step in and help both you and Anakin, help you find balance like you were meant to.”  
Padmé beamed, looking at Anakin only to find he could even look Master Jinn in the eye.   
“Ani?” she asked, leaning closer to him.  
“I don’t blame you Anakin.” Qui Gon soothed stepping closer.  
“Master, I… what I did-”  
“I will not say that what you had done wasn’t wrong, or against everything I had seen of you.” the master admitted. “But I did not bring you into the order to crucify you. I believed in you and what you would do for the force.”  
“But what I did-”  
“You brought balance.” Qui Gon assured. “Albeit not in a way we foresaw, but you created because the force was unbalanced. The dark had been too powerful and Pelagius had rot a new kind of darkness, which is why you were created. However, the Jedi managed to get the Sith under control enough for the light to suppress the dark. But should never have been that way.”  
“It was unbalanced.” Padmé stepped in. “Light without dark is not balanced.”  
Qui Gon smiled and nodded.  
“But when you joined the dark side, you brought it to power, evening out the scales. Now you have to maintain that balance.”  
“How.” Anakin asked, years of unshed tears finally spilling. “I never asked for all this. I just… I just wanted to be with Padmé. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Even after you took me in, I just wanted to be by her side… I didn’t ask to be the chosen one.”  
“I know.” Qui Gon soothed. “This was a lot to put on shoulders. I understand that you only ever just wanted the right that every being has in this galaxy, the right to be happy. But, you have a greater destiny, one that you don’t have to do alone.”  
“Never alone.” Padmé assured, squeezing his hand. “I’ll always be here to help you.”  
“As will I, and all who came before me.” Qui Gon assured. “We will always be here to offer our advice.”  
“I don’t think I can do what you are asking.” Anakin shook his head. “What I’ve done… I’m tainted. All I want to do now is find a way to bring my children into this galaxy without losing them or my wife. I can’t do what you are asking of me.”  
Padmé furrowed her brows at him.  
“You weren’t going to even try were you?” she hissed.   
“Padmé,” Anakin sighed. “I wanted to, but look at what this destiny has brought us. I almost lost you because of it. I might still lose you and the babies. I can’t even focus on fulfilling a prophecy when my children and wife are in danger.”  
“She was only in danger because of you.” Qui Gon told him.  
“What?” they demanded.  
“The vision you saw was a warning.” he nodded. “You were not with her, you were with Palpatine. But that has already changed.”  
“See.” she urged. “The babies and I are fine.”  
“Good.” he nodded. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want this.”  
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice in that, Anakin.” Qui Gon told him softly. “Palpatine has already sensed your children. When Padmé saved you and Obi-Wan, that sent a signal out to the galaxy and made him aware of their existence.”  
“No.” Anakin snarled. “He won’t find us here. And even if he does I’ll deal with him.”  
“And complete the Sith ritual?”  
That got Anakin to pause.  
“I do not disagree that he will need to be dealt with one way or another.” Qui Gon assured. “But it can not be done with the dark side. There has to be balance.”  
“But I-”  
“Anakin.” Padmé urged, pulling him to get his attention. “Please, for me and our children. As you are now, the dark side still has a hold. What happens when you lose control around us?”  
“I would never.”  
“Can you truly promise me that?” she implored.   
There was nothing he could say to that.  
“Please.” She pleaded again, placing a hand over her belly. “For our babies.”  
Looking between her hands and face, he deliberated for a good long moment.  
Then he sighed.   
“What do I have to do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading.  
> Please let me know what you think, reviews are always nice to read.  
> Three more chapters to go, hope you like them.  
> See you in the next chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it and thank you for reading.  
> The next chapter will come out the week after next since I'm taking next weekend off for Valentines day.  
> Thank you again.  
> See you in the next chapter.


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